


The Wedding Remixed

by JOBrien42



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 04:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20352214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JOBrien42/pseuds/JOBrien42
Summary: What if it wasn't Ellie and Vic getting married in season 7 of the West Wing, but Charlie and Zoey?  And what if Zoey decides to meddle in the currently fractured relationship of Josh and Donna.





	1. Chapter 1

Joshua Lyman sat down at his desk and buried his face in his hands. He knew he was in the right, and the campaign couldn’t hire her. A week ago she was lambasting the Congressman at every opportunity. Those quotes were still out there, in articles in the Times and the Post, on the internet. Some of them had been brought up on the Sunday talk shows as they debated whether Matt Santos had the gravitas and experience for the Presidency. And that was yesterday. And today she wanted to be his deputy?

And he knew, had she pushed him, if she’d shown a hint that she missed him half as much as he missed her, that he’d have found a way, found some place for her. Instead he’d had to watch her walk away - again - her head proud and erect. She’d shown him that she didn’t need him at all.

Maybe, aside from giving her that job eight years ago, she never had.

He sat there like that for a minute or so. It was time he really didn’t have to spend thinking about things that would never be. A sudden knock on the door startled him from his self-pity. He ran his hands through hair and tried to focus. “Yeah?” he announced in the direction of the sound.

The doorknob turned, and Charlie Young poked his head inside. “Hey.”

“Charlie!” There was genuine excitement in his voice. He had felt a kinship since the day he interviewed the young man for the job as the President’s bodyman, but hadn’t really seen him since leaving to run Matt Santos’s campaign. Josh missed him, like he missed many of his friends in the White House. He rose from his seat to give him a hug. “What the hell are you doing here? Come for a job? Name it, and it’s yours!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Charlie replied after the two separated. “I’m honored, I really am. But I can’t abandon CJ or the President right now.”

Josh’s face darkened with a flash of self-loathing. “Yeah,” he said quietly, moving back to his chair and inviting Charlie to take a seat “So, how can I help?”

Charlie sat. He started to speak, but paused, looking closely at his friend. “Are you okay, man? You’re looking… I don’t know. Defeated. I know you’re nine points down, but you got time.”

“It’s not…” Josh said as he slumped back. “Donna was here, asking for a job. I had to… I couldn’t.”

“Well, that was remarkably stupid. Even for you.”

“Charlie, they were replaying soundbites of her criticizing my candidate on Capitol Beat yesterday,” he complained. “Vinick’s team is probably going to include those quotes in their attack ads. How the hell do I put her on my staff? How could I put her in charge of people who have been with us for months, who believe in Matt Santos, when she was pushing Bingo Bob a week ago? I can’t do it!”

Charlie was silent for a moment, considering the argument. “All right, I’ll concede the optics may be bad. But you know she’s talented and you need all the people you can trust right now.”

Josh looked down, recalling his words to her - _I've got an airplane hangar out there filled with five hundred strangers looking to me for direction; I've got a candidate who doesn't trust any of them, and frankly neither do I_. “Yeah. I know she’s talented.”

His friend stared at him. “You don’t trust her.” It wasn’t a question. “You’ve known this woman forever. She took care of you after you were shot. You flew to Germany when she was hurt. You know you can-”

Josh interrupted him, his voice raised more with hurt than anger. “She left me! To work for Bingo Bob!” His hands clenched a manilla folder in front of him, and he looked like he wanted to rip it in half in frustration. His breathing was heavy for half a minute before he relaxed his grip. “I’m sorry, man. I wish I could have brought her on board. If Bailey hadn’t put her in front of the cameras, I probably could have. As it is, it’s probably better if CJ finds something for her. You guys need help too.”

Charlie saw the pain and regret on his face.

“Not that she needs it - or, I guess, would ever want it at this point - but I’d give my highest recommendation. Have her take over for Toby with the briefings.” He slid the folder across the desk. “She’s good. She can do it.”

Opening the folder, Charlie saw a series of quotes. Devastating attacks on Santos and Hoynes. Deft handling and deflection of criticism of Russell. Robust and articulate defense of policy proposals. “Yeah.”

“I really do apologize, Charlie,” he said. “You came here for something and had to listen to me whine. Seriously, what can I do for you?”

“Well, it’s about me and Zoey…”

“You trying to win her back?” Josh asked, perking up a bit. “Good for you. You know I’ve always been Team Charlie.”

“No, no… well, I was. We actually got back together a couple months ago.” Charlie explained. “The thing is… I was going to tell you at the convention… I asked her to marry me.”

Josh’s eyes shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah,” said Charlie, “and she agreed.”

Josh burst out of his chair, coming around to shake Charlie’s hand. “Wow! Congratulations, man! It couldn’t happen to two better kids. Have you set a date?”

“We’ve been going back and forth on that. The President wants us to have a Christmas wedding at the White House. We’d been happy doing it next summer after things have calmed down.” Charlie looked pensive as he spoke. “And I’d like you to be my best man.”

Josh blinked. “I’m sorry?”

Charlie repeated himself. “I’m asking you to be my best man. You hired me. You introduced us. You were there for me the night… you’ve been like a big brother to us both. We’d be honored if you would stand up for us.”

“I’m… I’m speechless.” Josh stammered. 

“Well, there’s a first,” Charlie said. “But you’ll do it?”

“So long as you two can wait until after Election Day, I’d be honored.”

“Deal,” his friend said, rising from his chair. “I gotta get back to the White House. We’re short-staffed as it is since Calley bailed and I don’t want to leave CJ too long.”

“Tell her I said hi,” Josh said. “And give my love to Zoey and pass on my congratulations..”

“I’ll be sure to,” Charlie assured him, and left the office.

Josh sat at his desk smiling at the thought of those two, after everything they’d been through, getting back together and now, engaged. He felt a slight pang that he didn’t know they’d reconciled; the last he remembered was her throwing Charlie a graduation party. Or was it her birthday, with the Penn and Teller fiasco with the burning flag trick. Those two had been in love pretty much from the moment they met. He thought of that meeting - _“I should call you Zoey?” “If I can call you Charlie.”_ \- and decided he would pull every string he could to give them the best wedding ever.

And if those two could, was there a chance for him and Donna?

But when he thought of the disappointed way she had looked at him when he’d turned her down, and how she had just walked out and left, he realized that was too much to hope for.

He’d wasted enough time on frivolity and daydreaming. He reached over the desk for the folder of quotes and returned it to his drawer, and turned his attention to one of a dozen strategy memos he needed to read.

\-----

Twenty minutes later Charlie was back at his desk, preparing some background on a jobs bill for CJ. Without looking up, he spoke, “I like that you want to watch me work, but you are terribly distracting.”

Zoey smiled. “I distract you?”

“Definitely,” he said, standing up and crossing over to her. “You always have.”

Zoey closed the door behind her and wrapped her arms around her fiancé, giving him a lingering kiss. “So?”

“So?”

“So how’d it go? You went to see Josh, right?”

Charlie nodded, “Yeah, he said so long as we wait until after the election, he’d be happy to.”

“Good,” Zoey said, pulling slightly back from their embrace to look at him. “It wouldn’t be the same without him.”

“Just so long as you don’t invite him on the honeymoon,” Charlie laughed. 

Zoey’s lip quirked up a bit, “Well, depending on where we end up going, it might be fun to have Josh and Donna around during the day. Well, part of the day, anyway. Maybe for a late lunch.” She pursed her lips in mock contemplation. “Okay, now that I think about it, once those two together it’s going to take a national emergency and the jaws of life to get them out of bed.”

“Zo’,” Charlie’s face grew solemn as he spoke, “I know you’re invested, but I’m starting to think that is never going to happen.”

“What did he do now?”

“She interviewed for a job with the Santos campaign,” Charlie said. 

“Josh turned her down?” Zoey was incredulous.

“Yeah,” he replied simply.

“He’s an idiot!” she exclaimed. She released Charlie and turned to grab the doorknob.

“Zoey,” Charlie admonished her.

“No, Charlie, this has gone on all year, and I’ve had enough,” Zoey’s frustration boiled over. “I’m going over there and pulling his head out of his ass so I can smack some sense into him.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why?” she asked, challenge in her voice. “Why the hell shouldn’t I? Why aren’t you more upset? You know they love each other, right?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s do something!”

“We can’t,” Charlie disagreed. When Zoey started to protest, he continued. “One, while he may be an idiot, the reasons Josh gave for not hiring her made sense; her comments against Santos were still being quoted yesterday on the talk shows. And two, if you go over there, Josh is stubborn enough to ruin his own happiness just to prove you wrong.”

She frowned. “He’s such a jackass.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “But you didn’t see him. It broke his heart not to be able to hire her. He even told me to ask CJ to make her Press Secretary.”

“Well, that settles it, then. If we can’t lock the two of them in a room, we’re just going to have to go over their heads. It’s time to bring in the big guns.”

Charlie stared at her in disbelief. “You’re not saying?”

“Damn right,” she replied. “I’m taking this to my parents.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plot is hatched, and CJ has reservations.

After a quick knock, Margaret poked her head into CJ’s office. “The President was hoping you could stop by the residence before you leave for the night.”

CJ looked up with irritation. The leak about the military space shuttle had shut down nearly all progress on their agenda, and she’d been in and out with Babish all day. The Calley kid had quit in its wake, leaving her once again with no deputy. Toby was doing his job and her old one, and she’d tapped him to be liaison to the Santos campaign. Ed and Larry were running around trying to pick up the slack, and while Charlie was a godsend, Joshua Lyman had come and stolen her primary source of comfort and advice to be his Vice Presidential candidate. She’d seriously considered strangling him for that when they’d met earlier in the day. 

When she’d told President Bartlet that she was willing to jump off a cliff for him, she had no idea they’d strap anvils to her arms and expect her to fly.

She sighed and asked her assistant,“What time is it?” 

“It’s Nine Forty-Seven.”

“And by before I leave for the night he meant-”

“I think the President and Mrs. Bartlet are expecting you now in the study,” Margaret answered.

CJ looked despairingly at the mountains on her desk. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but if you need to go…”

“I’ll be here when you get back,” Margaret assured her, and started to sort through the piles.

CJ walked through the Oval Office and out the door, making her way through the stickiness of the Summer evening air to the West Colonnade and to the mansion. Margaret had told her that Mrs. Bartlet was waiting as well, so that likely meant it wasn’t going to be another haranguing about why they hadn’t found the leaker yet. She climbed the stairs to the second floor and nodded to the agents at the study entrance, one of whom opened the door for her.

“Claudia Jean!” rang the President’s voice, “Welcome to the War Room!”

CJ looked around. Joining the President and First Lady were Charlie and Zoey, who were holding hands. On the coffee table was a speaker phone, a green light indicating an open line.

“Good evening, Mr. President, Mrs. Bartlet,” she said, “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” She nodded to Zoey and Charlie, offering the latter a direct look that suggested he should prepare her for these things.

Abbey Bartlet rose and offered CJ a large glass of wine. “I hear you’ve spent your day in the charming company of the White House counsel. Based on personal experience, you can probably use this.”

The Chief of Staff accepted the wine gratefully, and sat down on an open chair. “Thank you. What can I do for you, sir?” she asked the President.

“It feels like we’ve been off kilter for the last few years,” the President spoke. “Thomas Jefferson once said ‘the happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.’ And I do think of you - and Toby, Leo, Josh, Sam, Charlie, Margaret, Donnatella… - as my family. And the happy moments have been fewer and further between as they’ve gone off into the world. We’ve weathered quite a lot. Rosslyn. My M.S.. A government shutdown.” His eyes darted to his daughter, who gave a nod as Charlie put an arm around her for support. “Zoey’s kidnapping. And through it all we persevered by relying on one another. On our family.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. President, I’m not sure… is this about Haffley’s education bill and the Santos campaign?”

“Yeah, the Congressman is pissed that you’re screwing us on that one,” came Leo’s voice over the speakerphone. “But that’s not why Zoey wanted us all here to talk.”

“Zoey?” CJ asked incredulously. “Is something wrong?”

“I’ll say there is,” Zoey replied. “Josh didn’t hire Donna when she came for a job today.”

CJ stared at the youngest Bartlet daughter for a moment, and then looked around the room before starting to laugh. It was at least a half minute before she was finally able to compose herself to speak. “I’m so sorry, Mr. President. It’s just with everything I’ve been dealing with trying to run the country with a skeleton crew, and then you call me up here because Josh Lyman is being an ass again?”

Charlie spoke, “It’s a bit more than that, but yeah.” He recounted his meeting with Josh, the anguish in his face at not being able to bring her on board and his request to find a place for her in the White House.

“It’s not the worst idea he’s had,” CJ admitted. “Her time working for Russell showed she’s got the talent, and it would free Toby up.”

“See if you can get her in tomorrow,” Leo said. “That girl’s too talented to stay on the sidelines.”

“Okay,” CJ said. She turned to Charlie, “We’ll have Margaret get a hold of her in the morning.” She moved to get up. “Thank you for the wine, but if there’s nothing else, sir, I have to get back to make sure the stack of files teetering on my desk hasn’t collapsed and buried Margaret..”

“Oh, we’re not done quite yet,” the President said, almost impishly. “You know, I told Josh once that if he ever had a daughter, he’d find there are worse reasons than to do something for her. So he might find it amusing if he learned my youngest told me it was time for him to stop torturing both himself and his former assistant, and face his feelings like a real honest-to-God human being.”

There was a small triumphant smile on Zoey’s face at her father’s words, but CJ’s registered both her disapproval and dismay. 

“Sir, you can’t possibly be considering meddling in the private life of the campaign manager for the Democratic candidate,” she insisted. “The election is three months away. Leo, you can’t be on board with this.”

“The kid’s been all kinds of screwed up for eight months now,” Leo mused. “That he got Santos through the convention was a remarkable thing, but if he can’t get his head fully in the game I don’t think we’ve got a shot in November. You know I’d rather have dental surgery than think about Josh’s personal affairs, but we do need him at one hundred percent.”

CJ looked on with disbelief. “Look, I love Josh as much as you all, but we all know what happens when you try telling him what to do - he digs in his heels like a stubborn two-year old. Besides, shouldn’t Donna get a say in her life? She finally breaks free from him after eight years, makes a real name for herself out from under his shadow, and you’re all here trying to play Cupid?”

“CJ is right,” said the First Lady. “We do need to respect Donna’s feelings, of course. And if she has moved on, then that’s on Josh for being an emotionally repressed jackass. But I don’t think anyone in this room thinks that after everything those two went through together that either of them is happy with the current situation.”

“They still love each other,” Zoey insisted, “I just know it.”

The President sat listening to the conversation, peering thoughtfully over steepled hands. “Here’s what we’re going to do. CJ, you see if Donna is interested in being my spokesperson. Let it drop that Josh thought she would be perfect for the job, and see how she reacts. If she actually does hate him and is happy with things as they stand - and I agree with my youngest daughter that seems unlikely - then we do nothing. But, if that isn’t the case, if these two still care as much as we think they do, then we resolve ourselves on this day and at this time to provide such aid as we can. I’m asking Zoey to take the lead on this.”

Abbey looked at him. “You’ve even got a little codename for it, don’t you?”

“Operation Rose of Jericho,” the President confirmed, earning himself a knowing smile from his wife. “And with that, I bid you all good night.”

“Thank you, sir,” said CJ, echoing Leo and Charlie. Zoey went over and gave her father a hug and a kiss before exiting with Charlie.

As she returned to the west wing, CJ felt a bit flummoxed. She would be delighted to interview Donna for Press Secretary, but she dreaded the idea of broaching the subject of Josh with her, particularly after that one time in her old office. 

She regretted that night. She’d been feeling ambivalent about her relationship with Ben, had realized that she’d been stringing him along without hope for anything serious happening, and she projected that onto Donna’s relationship with Josh. When she’d seen the panic in his eyes after the bombing in Gaza, when she watched the man fall apart outside the Oval Office and then race off to Germany with only the clothes on his back, she’d felt sick to her stomach. It reminded her so much of when Toby had told Donna that Josh had been shot, and she knew those feelings were more than reciprocated. Then, when they’d come back from China to find that Donna had quit suddenly in the middle of the bullpen, they’d all been shocked. And Josh had practically followed her out the door, as if she’d been the only thing holding him there.

She sometimes wished she’d bitten her tongue that night. Maybe Donna wouldn’t have had that fling with the photojournalist and Josh would have told her how he felt. Maybe she’d have had the patience to wait another year, and they’d both still be working together. It would certainly have made things easier for the White House. But then they would have Russell - or worse, Hoynes - as the Democratic candidate right now. 

“Here,” Margaret said as CJ walked in, handing her a stack of binders. “Take these home tonight. You can just skim the summaries of the rest in the morning.”

“Are you kicking me out of my own office?” she asked her assistant.

“Merely making a suggestion, boss,” Margaret said in her quirky manner. “You’ve had a particularly rough day.”

CJ looked at her for a moment, and nodded. “Before I forget, I need you to get Donna Moss in here tomorrow morning.”

“Donna?” came the voice of Kate Harper. “How’s she doing?”

“Commander Harper, you’re here late,” commented CJ 

“On my way out. You?”

“Same,” CJ said with a meaningful look at Margaret, who was jotting down a note on her calendar. “Good night, Margaret.”

The redhead gave her boss an appraising look, and, deciding she was being truthful, shut down her computer and grabbed her coat and purse. “Good night, CJ.”

CJ put the briefing memos and binders Margaret had given her in a bag and grabbed her own coat. “Is there anything you needed me for?” she asked Kate. “Is there something going on?”

“Actually, I was just finishing up some paperwork when I saw you come back from the residence,” Kate answered. “I was wondering if you were going to have something for me.”

The pair started walking the halls towards the exit and their vehicles.

“That was... ,” CJ could still scarcely believe what it was. “That wasn’t anything official.” The Deputy National Security Advisor was peering closely at her, making her feel a bit like she was under interrogation. “I swear it wasn’t about the leak. It was just… the President sometimes gets these impractical ideas in his head.”

“Is it the sort of thing that will cause a scandal? Or reflect badly on the President or the administration?” Kate asked. “And does it involve Donna Moss?”

“Probably not, possibly if it got out, and yes,” CJ replied, checking off the questions in order. “I didn’t know you knew Donna very well.”

“She and I talked a bit. After what she went through in Gaza.”

“Oh,” CJ said. “Oh! I… missed it. I was so… I had just gotten this job when she was coming back and I barely saw her. Is she okay?”

“Like I said, we talked. And I gave her a name, someone who would listen and help her process things,” Kate assured her. “The last I saw, she was managing.”

“Josh is going to hate himself if he ever finds out,” CJ said. “He - after Rosslyn, he was… and she…”

“Josh knew,” Kate said. “He had guessed, and asked me if I could talk to her.”

“Why didn’t he talk to her himself? Idiot boy actually has experience in that area.”

“He was afraid,” Kate said. “She was directing a lot of her more negative emotions at him at the time, so I don’t know if she would - or could - have talked with him. And I got the sense he blaming himself for sending her there, as if he’d caused her to get hurt. I think that drove a wedge between them.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” said CJ sadly.

“At any rate, she was handling things fairly well the last I saw. And she did do a phenomenal job on the Russell campaign.” Kate said as the pair reached their cars. “It’s too bad, though. I don’t think she really knew why she was so angry with him. I’m sure if they’d just been able to talk... “

Kate’s voice trailed off, and she looked regretful.

“What?” asked CJ, with something more than curiosity in her voice. “If they’d just been able to talk, what?”

“I’ve been divorced twice, CJ, so it’s really not for me to say.”

“Maybe,” CJ mused, “but maybe there are times when someone has to say something.”

“Cryptic,” noted Kate as she opened her car door. “Good night, CJ.”

“Good night, Commander.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm getting fanciful here, but hey, that's what fanfic is for, yeah?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna gets an exciting job offer.

Donna stood nervously outside the office of the President’s Chief of Staff, wearing her most professional business attire.

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?” Margaret asked her, for the third time.

“What?” Donna asked, startled from her fidgeting. “Oh, no. Thank you.”

“Donna, it's still just CJ, and I promise that you aren’t in any trouble.”

“Oh, I didn’t think…,” the woman stammered uncharacteristically. “It’s just that I’ve had a series of disappointments the last few days and I don’t know if I can handle another right now.”

“Josh was wrong not to hire you,” Margaret said, causing Donna to stare momentarily “You tell him that next time you see him.”

Donna fought that familiar wave of frustration, a mixture of roughly equal parts anger, guilt and genuine sadness. “I don’t see that happening any time soon.” 

“Why?” asked CJ from her door, “Is he leaving politics and didn’t tell me?”

“CJ!” Donna turned and hugged her friend, grateful to see that appellation truly applied despite the distance they’d let build between them.

“I’m just saying, unless Josh is planning to retire, he’s going to have to deal with you. You’ve proven that you belong on this stage, Donna. Don’t ever forget that.” CJ’s face reflected the conviction of her words. “Now, come on in. We have a lot to discuss.”

Donna walked in, and allowed herself a moment to be amazed that she was walking into this office, that of the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, invited not as adjunct to the Deputy but due to her own accomplishments. She had earned this.

CJ grabbed a couple binders off the chair and indicated she should sit. “Can Margaret get you anything?”

“No, thank you. I’m good,” Donna said. “How can I help?”

“Right to the point,” CJ said. “Okay. A little birdie told me you might be looking for a job.”

“Was it Josh?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice. He said he could make some calls and she’d waved him off. She could do this herself. “I don’t need charity, CJ. I can find something better than going back to being an assistant...”

“All right, two things. One, Josh didn’t tell me, Charlie did. And two, this isn’t charity. We aren’t talking about an assistant position. The President wants you for Press Secretary.”

Donna looked at her, agape.

“We’re short-staffed here,” CJ explained. “I’d like you to take over for Toby before he forgets everything Annabeth taught him and starts challenging members of the Press Corps to duels. Your time as spokesperson for Russell shows you're qualified.”

“I - I’m sorry, this is a bit sudden,” Donna stammered. Images of the previous day’s embarrassment raced through her head. “I had to make statements, criticizing President Bartlet. When the Vice President wanted to ‘distance’ himself.”

“I know, and the President understands why.”

Donna laughed, a mocking sound. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, “it’s just that Josh threw all the things I said about Santos back in my face when he rejected me. He had a whole folder of my quotes.”

“I know. I had him fax it over,” CJ said, holding up several pieces of paper. “You did good work.”

“But not good enough for him,” Donna said between clenched teeth.

“Too good, actually, from what Charlie tells me,” was CJ’s reply. “They were still repeating some of your comments on the Sunday talk shows. That was two days ago, Donna, and right now he’s spending all his political capital…”

“In defense of him picking an alcoholic coming off a heart attack as his Vice Presidential candidate,” Donna concluded. “Okay, perhaps he had a point. He still could’ve found something for me behind the scenes.”

“You mean something for which you were probably over-qualified at this point?” CJ pointed out. “I’m not defending him; he could have found something for you if he really wanted, and he’s a fool for letting someone who could help him walk out the door. But Charlie told me he thought that you’d be of value to us here, and both the President and I agree.”

“Can I have a day to think about it?” Donna asked. “I know it’s a great opportunity. I just need to decide if it’s the right one.”

“I understand. And if I’m honest, if I was speaking to you as your friend…”

“I know,” Donna said. “With everything going on, the job is more like tap dancing across a firing range or minefield right now. I’ve seen how they treat Toby.”

“Do you have an alternative plan in mind?” CJ asked.

“I was thinking of going home, actually. Back to Madison, I mean. I haven’t seen my parents much, other than my mother coming to…” Donna’s eyes grew distant for a moment, but she pressed on. “... to Germany. And this is going to be a tight election at best, and I’m thinking I could get a job in the Midwest working for the campaign.”

CJ looked at her. “You want to work to elect Santos?”

“Wouldn’t you?” Donna seemed surprised. “If you weren’t working for the President?”

“It’s a long shot. It’s a miracle they’re only nine points down right now.”

“Are you really going to count Josh out? Santos had no business still being in the Democratic primaries by Super Tuesday, and today’s he’s our nominee,” Donna pointed out, her voice becoming increasingly passionate. “He’s real, CJ. I got to meet him, during the stem cell fight. He isn’t President Bartlet, but he’s a man of principles and conviction and intelligence. Josh went out and found a worthy candidate, and I want to help make him the next President. And if the only way I can do that is by working at the state level, then that’s what I’m gonna do!”

CJ smiled a bit. “Even if it means helping Josh?”

Donna looked down at her hands. “Especially because it means helping Josh,” she said quietly. “I remember what you told me, that night.” CJ flinched at the statement, but there was no recrimination in it. “I was staying for him. And I did need to leave him, and become my own person. I had to prove that to myself. I am proud of what I accomplished on the Russell campaign. But all yesterday, I kept thinking, if I’d stayed two more days. If I had known he was going to go recruit this good man to run… right before I quit, he told me that Leo was asking him to find someone like Santos. I could have been part of that, I could have done so much to help instead of slinging one liners that may end up in an Arnold Vinick attack ad.”

“Don’t say that, Donna,” CJ said.

“You didn’t see him on the road, CJ! He was trying to do it all by himself. He wasn’t taking care of himself. He still isn’t. When I saw him yesterday… he’ll work himself to death, just like Leo nearly did.”

“That's not your responsibility,” CJ insisted. “I can call the Santos team and make sure they keep an eye on him. And Leo’s there now. He’ll make sure…”

“He won’t! He’ll be off on the road and Josh will say the right things but he still won’t be sleeping or eating right or taking his medicine.” Donna’s voice burned with raw motion and her eyes were bright. She took a long, ragged breath. “I’m sorry, CJ. This was unprofessional of me. I really do appreciate the offer. I’m flattered that you and the President would consider me.”

“It’s all right, Donna,” her friend said. “I understand - he's your friend. And maybe you should think about this - he didn’t leave until you did.”

Donna looked at her, confused.

“It turns out he was staying for you too.” 

Donna considered this, and a small smile formed on her face. “Thank you for your time, CJ.”

The two stood up, and walked towards the door. “I’ll talk to Leo,” CJ said, “and make sure someone’s there to smack him on the head to go home to sleep and eat a vegetable from time to time.”

“Thanks.”

“It also occurs to me that it’s not unheard of for a skilled operative at the regional level to get called up to the national campaign,” CJ noted.

“I remember,” Donna said as she gave CJ another hug. As she pulled away, her jaw set and her face grew determined. “And I’m counting on it.”

\- - - - - 

After the young woman left, CJ asked Margaret to call Leo before going back into her office and closing the door.

“I’ve got Leo on four,” her assistant said over the intercom.

She picked up the phone and pressed the button. “Hi, Leo.”

“Hey kid,” he answered. “What’s the good word? When does she start?”

“She’s doesn’t,” CJ admitted. “She said no.”

“She turned you down? A chance to serve in the White House?” Leo seemed shocked. “I swear, if Josh wrecked her self-confidence with that stunt yesterday I am going to feed him to the pandas in the zoo.”

“I don’t think pandas eat…”

“I’ll use little pieces of him to fertilize the bamboo,” Leo snarled, incensed. “All right, so the plan’s off.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” CJ said. “She said she wants to go work for the Santos campaign instead.”

There was a pause, and she thought she might have heard his knowing smile on the receiver. “She knows I can’t go over Josh’s head, right? This has to be his show. His and the Congressman’s, I mean. She isn’t going to Santos, is she?”

“No,” CJ answered. “She said she’s going back to Wisconsin to work there.”

“Interesting,” Leo said. “You know, back in Ninety-eight, we pulled more than one person from the regionals onto the team.”

“Yes,” CJ said, smiling, “she’s counting on that.”

“Smart kid.”

“Yes. And a worried one.” CJ relayed Donna’s concerns about Josh. “So Zoey was right about them. We just need to keep your walking disaster of a protégé alive long enough to fix things.”

“I’ll mention it to Matt,” Leo said. “I know you have reservations about the whole plan. But I know the President’s feeling guilty about not being very supportive of Josh for the last couple years, especially since Josh would sooner bite out his tongue than publicly criticize him or this administration.”

“I know,” CJ agreed. “He’s infuriating, but he is sweet. And probably too loyal.”

“Yeah,” said Leo, “and he sacrificed as much as anyone for us, and I think the President’s decided to return the favor. The kid deserves a shot at happiness. They both do.”

\- - - - -

Donna walked with purpose through the halls of the Old Executive Office Building, her confident stride masking her hopes that she hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of her life. She just turned down the chance to be the Press Secretary for the President of the United States of America. She would have been, after the President, the second most visible person of the administration, and cemented her place in history. She’d have had her own Wikipedia page. 

Instead she was going back to Wisconsin to work at the state or, hopefully, regional level for a campaign whose chair had rejected her.

She fought the urge to run back across the lot into the White House and tell CJ she’d reconsidered, but she knew in her heart this was a better choice. Coming on as Press Secretary, a delicate dance with the press during ordinary times, would be a feeding frenzy during the current leak scandal. She’d developed relationships with several members of the press, but these were seasoned veterans who smelled blood in the water. And for what? She’d be looking for another job in five months.

“Donna!”

She turned and saw Will coming down the hall, holding a danish. “Hey,” she said, forcing a little cheer into her voice. “How’s it going?”

“The Vice President’s still in shock,” Will said. “And, quite understandably I would say, feeling a bit betrayed that Bartlet swung the Convention to Santos.”

“Will,” Donna said, “I think we both know that as much as it hurts, the President chose the best person for the job. And the speech swung the Convention as much as anything.”

“Maybe, but Leo gave us every indication that Santos would be dropping out,” he replied, his face darkening. He shrugged it off. “Hey, I heard you had an interview at the White House this morning. How’d it go?”

She searched for the right words. “There was an attractive offer, but I feel the best use of my time and talent is to get out there and trying to keep the White House.”

“Are you going to try for the Santos team? Gutsy move,” Will said, “I wouldn’t, personally, but Josh might like you enough to bring you on board.”

“Apparently he doesn’t like me that much,” she said, trying to maintain a light tone.

“Wow.” Will’s eyes registered his surprise. “I mean, if the roles were reversed, I’d make the same decision if, but this is you and him. And he just brought you a beer the other night.”

“He brought _us_ beer,” Donna corrected him.

“Sure, if you say so.” Will mused on it. “I mean, I watched him fall apart when… let’s just say I’m amazed he can be that focused.”

“It’s a presidential campaign. There’s nothing he takes more seriously.” Donna glanced at her watch. “Anyway, I have to get going - I’m meeting with a woman from Treasury who wants to sublet my apartment while I go out on the campaign trail.”

“I thought you said he turned you down?”

“Yes,” she replied. “But I‘m guessing they haven’t got that memo in Madison or Chicago.”

Will looked at her with a calculating expression. “Well, good luck.”

“Thanks,” she said. “And, sincerely, thank you for everything, Will. For taking a chance on me.”

“Easiest and best decision I made on the campaign.”

She left the building, her mood a complete turnaround from the previous day as those events were reframed with new information. Maybe Josh hadn’t turned her down out of spite or petulance after all. Maybe he sincerely did miss her every day. The rejection still stung, but in a way, she was perversely happy. In the end, he’d treated her as a real political operative, the way he would have any other Russell spokesperson. 

And she was more sure that she was making the right decision. She’d done fine speaking for the Russell campaign, sure, but she didn’t love it enough to face the jackals in the White House press room. She would rather work on policy, or at least, be able to do that in addition to talking in front of the cameras. Things were far more flexible at the state level too, and she’d have the chance to make a difference in multiple facets of the campaign office, while she waited to catch the eye of the national campaign. 

Yes, she would prefer if she could stay in Washington and make sure Josh wasn’t going to keel over from monomaniacal self-neglect. It wasn’t unreasonable to want a good friend to take care of himself. 

And she had to believe they were still good friends. They’d probably even been each other’s best friend, and she would keep telling herself that was all she was hoping to get back to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we never find out how Lou finds Donna to hire her to do Midwest Press, and the idea that she would go home to Madison, see her parents and get to help the Santos campaign feels right to me. I know I've read at least one story where Donna became Press Secretary for Bartlet, and it's a little surprising that CJ didn't offer her something when Josh turned her down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a change of plans

“That means what I think it means?”

Zoey looked back at Charlie, as he studied the small plastic indicator in her hands. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” he said. He tightened his grip protectively around her waist, hugging her to him. “Okay,” he repeated. “It’s a little earlier than we expected, but we can do this.”

She studied his expression closely, “You’re not upset?”

“That I’m going to be a daddy? That we’re going to have a child together?” Charlie pressed a soft kiss into her cheek. “Not a chance.”

She smiled. “It creates a bit of a problem, though.”

“We should probably…”

“Sooner rather than later, yes,” Zoey said. “I’ll ask my parents if we can get together for drinks. We can make arrangements.”

“Now there’s a conversation I’m looking forward to.”

“It’ll be fine, Charlie,” she said, noting the concern behind the sarcasm. “You know they both adore you.”

“And I adore you,” Charlie said, turning her to face him and giving her another kiss, “so I guess it’s once more unto the breach.”

\-----

“Mr. McGarry,” Louise Thornton said as she barged into his office, “I heard you might have some names for me?”

“It’s Leo,” the man said smoothly, putting down his turkey sandwich. “And it’s Louise Thornton, right? I’m sorry we haven’t been able to meet yet. I remember you smacked Josh around in a few primaries.”

“Yes,” she admitted, “and call me Lou. Josh says you’re from Chicago, and might know some people I can use for press? We need to mobilize the Midwest better.”

Leo sat back in his chair, looking thoughtful. “Yeah, I got a name for you.”

“And they’re good?”

“Very good. Spokesperson for Russell during the primaries,” Leo said.

“The blonde?” Lou asked.

“Donna Moss, yes,” Leo confirmed.

“She was great,” she said. “Are you sure she’ll want to work for us? I know things got a little messy there at the end.”

Leo made the pretense of looking at a couple papers on his desk. “She’s currently working for the Santos campaign in our Madison office, so I imagine she’ll be amenable.”

“Perfect,” Lou said.

\-----

Jed Bartlet walked distractedly back through the halls with his wife after the announcement of the new Kennedy Center members and what she was currently describing as a rather lovely recital.

“I have to call Zahavy,” he said, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister, who was unwilling to go to the funeral of the Palestinian Chairman, who had been killed in a terrorist attack earlier that day.

“I don’t blame him for not wanting to go to Farad’s funeral,” Abbey said. “I wish you didn’t have to go. Isn’t that what Vice Presidents are for?”

“No,” he replied. The Middle East was his mess. He’d pushed for peace following the deaths of Percy Fitzwallace and two Congressmen. He’d put American lives on the line for that peace, and he needed to step up and try to hold it together, with his bare hands if necessary. Not that Bob Russell would ever consider going, or, for that matter, doing much but sulking in his office.

“Then what good are they?”

“The two I’ve had - an enduring mystery,” he said. He could have - _should have - _fought for Berryhill. For anyone other than Haffley’s list of mediocrity. “God, I’m exhausted.”

“You haven’t forgotten that Zoey and Charlie wanted to talk with us tonight?”

“No,” he said. “Do you think they’ve settled on a date? A Christmas wedding at the White House would be a wonderful gift for her parents, don’t you think?”

“I find putting pressure on our youngest daughter to fulfill your love of ceremony and spectacle is somewhat unbecoming in a President.”

“I’m not picky,” Jed said. “If Operation Rose of Jericho is successful, I would happily offer the experience to those two instead. It isn’t like we’ll get the chance with Ellie.”

“To our country’s shame,” Abbey said. “How is the operation going? Maybe that’s what our daughter wants to share with us.”

“Our dear Miss Moss is in Madison, working for the district office at home. Josh, in what I can assume was a bout of sleep-deprived madness, has hired Louise Thornton as Communications Director. Leo told me he suggested that she reach out to the Wisconsin office for help.”

“Good,” Abbey noted. “On the other hand, I’ve seen Joshua on CNN, and to say he’s not looking his best would be kind. I’ve half a mind to show up at Santos headquarters with my stethoscope and industrial strength tranquilizers.”

“For the sake of the party, I would ask you to refrain from that until after he gets Santos elected.”

\-----

“Donna, Jeremy needs you for a conference call.”

She looked up from her computer and its display of the Get Out the Vote contacts for Milwaukee. “Thanks, Jamie.” She grabbed her phone and a couple folders and looked inquisitively at the young man. “In his office, or?”

“Oh! Sorry. Beige room.”

She headed there quickly, finding the head of the Santos campaign for Wisconsin sitting with the DNC chair for Madison, Lena Glasser.

“Donna, thank you for coming,” Jeremy said. “We’ve got Stan Mitchell, Lena’s counterpart from Chicago on the line. He’s hoping to coordinate the Midwest effort.”

“I need to coordinate something,” came the voice over the speakerphone. “Santos has leads in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and he’s close in Iowa, Michigan and Missouri, but there are 41 electoral votes between here and Ohio, and I can’t get them to fund my operation. I’m at a loss here. There’s no way Vinick should be up by double digits in Illinois.”

“You think the numbers are soft?” Lena asked.

“I know they are, I just don't have enough data to prove it to Lyman or Thornton.”

“Has the _Tribune_ endorsed us yet?” Donna asked. “They went Santos in the primary. Said he had ‘a bold, fresh perspective on addressing some of America’s most pressing issues.’”

“Nothing yet,” Stan admitted. “I don’t see them going Vinick but everything this cycle is topsy turvy. I was on a call with Senator Montgomery earlier...”

Donna listened to the man talk for a bit, musing idly. He was probably right - Chicago should be coming out in droves for favorite son Leo McGarry. The contentious primary race probably had left the Santos team short on funding too, meaning Josh was being ruthless in how and where he invested the campaign’s cash. “You should call the _Trib_, ask for Melissa at the editorial desk. Tell her we appreciated their kind words before, and we’ll get her an exclusive with Mr. McGarry.”

There was a pause. “Okay,” Stan said, “and can we get that?”

“We will,” Donna said, projecting every bit of confidence into her voice that she could as she jotted down a note to give Margaret a call later.

The meeting continued for another half hour, and Donna chimed in from time to time, speaking authoritatively about the previous two presidential cycles but not mentioning that she’d been there on the front lines. It was still a fairly bleak call. There’d been a mixup the previous week where the Santos advance team had actually come to the capital of Illinois, offering a glimmer of hope to Stan Mitchell and his team, but it turned out they’d meant to be in Springfield, Missouri. On top of that, the assassination of Chairman Farad was throwing the conversation back to security, which was never a positive for the Democratic candidate. There was more than one voice questioning if Josh Lyman was up to the task, and she had offered what defense she could even as she felt she was getting a concerning image of what was going on back in Washington. She felt the worry gnawing at her and it was translating into a pounding headache.

“Hey Donna,” Jamie came rushing up to her, slightly flushed and breathing a little heavy. “There’s a call for you at your desk.”

“Can you take a message?” Five minutes, that’s all she needed to get under control.

“I think you want to take this?” the intern said. “She said her name was…” He looked at his notepad. “Louise Thornton. From the national campaign.”

Donna moved past him quickly, heading for her desk, her word of thanks trailing behind her.

\-----

“Zoey, you’re wearing your ring again!” Abbey said as she greeted her youngest with a hug. “It looks wonderful on you. Does this mean you two are ready to share the news with the outside world?”

She and Charlie exchanged an affectionate kiss of the cheek, and the President kissed Zoey and shook Charlie’s hand before they took their seats, in front of a set of wine glasses that had been set out for them

“So what did you need to talk to us about,” President Bartlet said. “Have you picked a date?”

Charlie looked over at his fiancée, took her hand and cleared his throat. “Well, sir, that is what we came to ask you about.”

“A Christmas wedding…”

“Dad, I don’t think we want to wait until Christmas,” Zoey interrupted. “If fact, we really feel ‘the sooner the better’ is appropriate in this situation.”

The President and his wife looked at each other, the understanding dawning on them both.

“Oh!” exclaimed Dr. Bartlet, and she moved across to the sofa to embrace her daughter, deftly removing the wineglass from her hand as she did.

“Well, we should probably get right on to scheduling that, then,” said the President, a little flustered. He looked at his former body man and future son-in-law, mild disapproval on his face. “Charlie, when we had that unfortunate encounter earlier this year, and then later, in the Oval when you gave me far, far more information than any father wants to hear, I was assuming, you understand, that you were going to be responsible…”

“Da-ad!” Zoey cried out, her face immediately flushing bright red.

“Jed,” Abbey chided him, “You are well aware that no method of birth control is one hundred percent effective.”

At that point, Nancy, one of the Presidential secretaries, knocked and entered. “I’m sorry for the interruption, Mr. President, ma’am, Zoey… Charlie.”

“Saved by the bell,” President Bartlet announced, rising quickly from his seat. “I’m needed, I assume?”

“Yes sir,” Nancy said. “CJ and Oliver Babish would like to have a few moments of your time.”

“Of course. Excuse me, please.” he said. He turned to Zoey, “You can start working on the details with your mother.” He gave her another tender kiss on her cheek and shook Charlie’s hand again.

“That… went better than I expected, actually” Charlie said as the President left. He watched Abbey and Zoey talking animatedly, and for the first time that day, he felt himself able to relax.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> machinations go awry the days before the Al Smith dinner.

“Good morning!” a melodic, cheerful voice spoke over the phone.

“Annabeth?” Zoey asked, surprised.

“It’s okay, I’m covering for Leo. He filled me in, and I have to say, I’m excited to help in any way I can. I always felt those two were meant for each other.”

Zoey waited for her to stop to take a breath. “Okay, I’m here with my mother. My dad, Charlie and CJ are too busy with the whole Toby situation to help right now.”

“I still can’t believe it was him,” Annabeth said, her voice tinged with sadness. “I didn’t think he even liked Greg Brock. Or any of the other reporters, for that matter.”

“Toby Ziegler was certainly sanctimonious enough to do it,” Abbey said. “In this case, I can’t say that I am at all unhappy that he did. He saved three lives, and that was the important thing. I think Jed will forgive him in time.”

“Yeah,” Zoey said. “I’m really glad they're okay. It's too bad people are making such a big stink out of it. It's affecting both the wedding plans and our operation, and I was hoping to see those two dance together.”

“Well,” Annabeth said, “the good news is that Lou hired Donna to do Midwest Press for us, and she’s amazing at it. I’m really not sure why she was interviewing me last year, she’s great on television.”

“That is good news. How’s Josh doing?”

“He’s… managing.” Annabeth confessed after a pause. “I don’t see him very often, but he usually calls for Leo at least once a day. He sounds completely stressed out and, to be honest, alone. Like he doesn’t have anyone to rely on. He had to let nearly fifty staff go in the shakeup, including one of Santos’s longtime aides. The other one - Ronna? - she really let him have it. And then he heard about Toby, and he took that really hard. I heard he locked himself in his office for almost an hour. When he came out, he was all business, talking about how to keep the scandal from affecting the campaign.”

“Oh,” said Zoey, filling the single sound with profound sympathy. There was a moment’s silence, as she looked at her mother for advice.

“I don’t know what we can do,” Abbey said evenly. “Hopefully the campaign gets Donna up to help him soon, and hopefully he isn’t being too much of a blockhead about it when they do. From everything we’ve heard, the two have barely spoken all year, and his pride was hurt and that always makes men act in the most childish manner imaginable.”

“You make it sound hopeless,” Zoey said.

“Don’t pout,” her mother chided her. “It just means we need to enlist another conspirator or two.”

“Who?” Zoey asked.

Abbey didn’t respond at first, and then focused on the speakerphone. “Annabeth, if you don’t mind I need to put you on hold for a second.”

“Of course, Dr. Bartlet,” came the chipper reply.

The First Lady pressed the hold button, and then her intercom. “Tina, I need you to find a number for me and then conference them in.”

“Of course, ma’am,” her secretary replied. “Who do you need?”

“Sam Seaborn in Orange County, California.”

\-----

Donna was going over her notes. She was now in daily e-mail communication with Louise Thornton, making her think that her promotion to the national campaign was imminent. In the meantime, she was enjoying her time in Chicago. It had been nice - for almost an entire week - staying with her parents in Madison again, and then she was reminded that as much as she loved them, they were never entirely comfortable with their daughter running off with those America-hating, soft-on-crime, tax-and-spend Democrats. It had been nice to see that her mother had recorded all of her press conferences on the VCR, but she didn’t appreciate that the woman had also tried to set her up on three dates in two weeks, and had then accused Donna of trying to get out of them by working twelve hour days.

The television on the filing cabinet was tuned to MSNBC, mostly as background noise she had long since learned to tune out while part of her brain listened for breaking news or other pertinent information.

That sixth sense triggered as soon as the commercial had started, something in the voiceover drawing her attention.

“This November,” spoke the voice, “America faces a vote of conscience.”

She watched in horror as the ad accused Matt Santos of supporting abortion without limits. It was absurd, of course. After her encounter with the Congressman in the Vice President’s office, she’d done some research on her own, not just looking for flaws that the Russell campaign could exploit. What she’d found was a very nuanced position; voting against a late-term ban with no carve out for the life and health of the mother, and against a parental notification law that would not protect victims of incest. She noted that there was no message of approval from Senator Vinick attached, indicating it was likely the work of an outside group, maybe one of those 527’s.

She racked her brain as to where she’d seen the original interview. It was a couple years ago, maybe one of the Houston radio stations. She considered emailing Lou with what she remembered, but she decided that the national campaign had to be on it. Josh would not let this sort of attack stand, and he’d be marshalling forces, possibly preparing to unleash his own round of attack ads.

She frowned. Part of the appeal of Matthew Santos was that he wasn’t the hitman, that he hadn’t gone negative when Russell and Hoynes were slinging mud at each other. To be the first to go negative in the Presidential would be terrible for his brand and his popularity, and might put Vinick’s lead in the bank.

She hoped that Josh would remember that and wished, not for the first time, that she could call him and talk it over.

Or just talk about anything, really.

She gritted her teeth, turned her attention to her computer and started to pour through political blogs, to see what chatter the ad might be generating.

\-----

“Bad day?” Zoey asked as Charlie lay down on the bed.

“Not a great one,” he said, “but getting better all the time.” He wrapped her in his arms and nuzzled her neck. “It was funny watching Will doing his rope a dope routine at the podium though.”

“Did you see that awful ad?”

“Yeah, it’s a load of crap, but it’s generating buzz.” he said. “I hope Josh has something to fight back with.”

Zoey snuggled closer. “I hope he has some_one_ to help him fight back with, very, very soon.”

“You know something I don’t?” Charlie asked.

“Well, since your job made you miss our meeting today, yes. Donna’s moved up to the Midwest Corridor, and mom called Sam.”

“That’s a good call,” he noted. “I wonder if he’d stand up for me too. I need another groomsman.”

“You should ask him. We can pair him with Mallory!” Memories of the two of them and their awkward flirtation made her laugh.

Charlie groaned a bit. “I’m sure watching his wife dance with Sam Seaborn would go over great with her husband, especially if he’s there holding their new baby, ”

“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport. They’re friends, and I’m sure they have a lot to catch up on.”

“Zoey, I love you dearly, but you know there are times when I can’t tell if you’re playing with me.”

“And I intend to keep it that way,” she said. She rolled on top of him and kissed him very seriously. “And play time is just beginning.”

\-----

Donna sat on the mattress, unsure why Lou had left her in a bedroom. Maybe she was squaring away the paperwork and getting her credentials in order before finding her an office. What she was sure of was that six hours later, she was still buzzing from the interview - she’d made it back to the big leagues.

It had been a whirlwind. This morning she’d been sitting in a Chicago office, trying to entice reporters in Cincinnati, Detroit and Des Moines to bite on a fluff piece that Lou had sent, and now she was in a hotel in Dearborn, speaking for the next President of the United States.

It nagged at her a little that Lou hadn’t mentioned Josh when she’d called to tell Donna to get on the next flight. There had been previous complaints, of course, about long hours and impossible demands, but there was nothing that he’d signed off on her hiring Donna.

The door opened and there was Lou, dragging Josh. Donna glared at Lou, unsure what her game was.

He looked tired and upset, and not a little surprised, but he managed a nearly breathless “hi.”

“Hi,” she returned the greeting, rising to her feet.

“I don't know what the problem is between you two,” Lou said, shoving a folder into his abdomen, “but she's great on television and I don't care if she worked for Francisco Franco in the primary, right now it's all hands on deck. So work it out.”

Donna noted that Lou had left the door open. It would probably prevent things from escalating into the fight she was half-expecting. She struggled with what to say when he opened the conversation.

“What kind of on-the-record experience do you have?”

She felt bile rising. “Is this a job interview?”

“I’m campaign manager,” Josh said. She could see him wrapping himself in his title to protect himself and put distance between them. “I hire the staff. It generally involves an interview. On-the-record experience?”

“Six hours ago, nationally televised press conference, Santos-McGarry campaign,” she said, glibly.

“References if we want to pursue this?”

“Josh Lyman, campaign manager, try the main switchboard,” she said, letting sarcasm drip from each syllable, letting him know she was fed up with the whole charade.

“Did he tell you campaigns require loyalty; you don't go working for the other guy?” Josh challenged.

“Who happened to be the Party's front-runner.” she replied succinctly, while fighting off the familiar twinge of guilt.

“And you knew he didn’t deserve it!” Josh snapped. “Well, now Vinick’s the front-runner. When he announced, you told me I had to convince you not to vote for him. What guarantee do I have you won’t run off and go work for him next week!”

“Will you get over yourself!” she responded angrily. But then she stopped, rubbing a hand absently along her right leg, and let out a long sigh. “Just stop, Josh. You know you aren’t going to fire your campaign’s brand new spokesperson in a fit of pique. You aren’t going to risk distracting from your message with what would become a process story about Josh Lyman throwing a temper tantrum, right on the heels of a shakeup where you let fifty staffers go too. It would make it all about you, and I know you would never do that to your candidate.”

He stared at her, recoiling from her words.

"Look, I know you don't trust me right now, and maybe you think you've got good reason not to. Maybe you even hate me. But I’m here, and I’m good - you know I’m good. And you also know that no one gives a damn about the primaries at this point. You need me.”

She knew she’d pulled the rug out from under him and watched him try to rally “Be that as it may…”

Lou burst in again. “I hope you two are getting along like peas in a pod. It just broke over the wires: Women's Alliance wants to meet with Vinick.” She turned to Donna, “I need you to spin it - bad for him, fine for us.”

Josh stalked out, and Donna watched him for a brief moment before turning back to Lou. “How is that even possible?”

Lou shrugged as the pair exited the room, “Bad for us, worse for him; whatever sticks to the wall.”

Donna’s eyes followed Josh as he headed to talk with another staffer - Bram - who she’d met earlier. He seemed completely focused, but there was a subtle shift to the way his shoulders hung. She worried she’d gone too far. She could have told him that she’d missed him too, told him that she’d joined the campaign to help elect Santos because she believed in his candidate. She didn’t need to remind him of having to let staff go or insinuate that he hated her.

It wasn’t the time for those thoughts. She was right; he couldn’t fire her now. She’d have time to prove her loyalty to this campaign. And she could start now by coming up with some way to make Vinick unpalatable to his Conservative base while obscuring the idea that a generally reliable Democratic ally might endorse the Republican senator.

She left Lou with Josh and Bram and headed to see if she could find an empty office to work in. She had a President to elect.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam enters the fray. Set during "The Debate".

“Josh? Are you still there?”

“One sec, Sam,” Sam sat back in his chair and listened to his best friend hand out assignments to his team for post-debate spin. From the sound of it, the White House had actually flown in Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill to answer on foreign policy and Senator Rafferty was on hand to talk healthcare. Someone named Edie was assigned immigration. He heard Donna ask in a far too timid voice what Josh wanted her to cover, and he replied - far too curtly in Sam’s mind - that she would be a “floater” - filling in as needed - unless Lou had something specific in mind. “All right, sorry about that,” Josh said. “Rallying the troops and what not.”

“Yeah, I caught your oratory,” Sam said. “Patton-esque.”

“These aren’t neophytes,” Josh said, “I’ve got a good team. They know what they’ve gotta do.”

“So,” Sam considered what to say. He was a little upset with how dismissive Josh had been to Donna, and he wanted to call him out. But he’d been assigned the “good cop” role in the plan, so he held his tongue. “How’d the debate happen? Last I read you guys were walking away.”

“The Congressman worked it out with Vinick when they were backstage at the Al Smith Dinner. I thought Bram was gonna pop a vein for what it did to the schedule. I’m glad he did - we need to start changing some minds out there if we're ever gonna move those polls.”

“He was the best of the seven dwarves,” Sam said, referring to the moniker given to the Democratic primary field, “but this is Arnie Vinick. I grew up watching his Senate debates. It’s a whole different ballgame.”

“Lou went nine rounds with Bruno on the debate rules,” Josh said, “She’s convinced the two minute answer - one minute response - thirty second rebuttal she worked out takes him out of his rhythm and makes him look awkward.”

“Just so long as it doesn’t do the same to Santos,” Sam said. “You know, I almost miss debate prep.”

“You could still join us, you know,” Josh suggested, and Sam could hear the earnestness behind the forced casualness. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked. “You- you can help prep Leo. He’s never been the guy at the podium before, and Sullivan’s a former D.A.. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Sorry,” he said, genuine regret in his voice. “I’ve been out of it too long anyway. Besides,” he hesitated, unsure if the timing was right for this segue, “was that Donna I heard? You finally hired her.”

“Lou hired her,” Josh answered, his tone brusque. 

“Okay,” Sam said carefully. “What I’m saying is you have friends with you on whom you can rely. You aren’t alone out there.”

“Aren’t I?” he asked, making it clear that was rhetorical. “Sorry, it’s been a day. Hell, it’s been a year. I’ve got a good team. We aren’t Bartlet for America, but we’ve got some game.” There was some muffled sounds over the line, and Sam felt he could hear his friend scrubbing his free hand through his hair. “God, I’m tired. I don’t remember Leo looking this tired four - or even eight - years ago. I gotta ask him his secret.”

“He trusted in his people,” Sam pointed out.

“His people were us,” Josh replied. 

“Yeah, but we weren’t ‘us’ at that point,” countered Sam. “Not back in Ninety-eight. Toby had a perfect losing record. CJ had never worked on a national campaign. You had to drag me out of a job indemnifying corporations against the crappy oil tankers they were buying to come write for you. Only you and Leo had any credibility.”

“But we were there from the start, in New Hampshire. We had each other!”

Sam hesitated. “You still have Donna.” The line went quiet except for the background bustle of the spin room. 

It felt like an eternity before Josh finally spoke. “Do I?” 

“Yes. And you know it.”

“It doesn’t feel like it. The Donna I knew wouldn’t have left me without warning to go off to polish Bingo Bob’s turds for the press.” Bitterness pervaded every word. “And she was never...”

He left it hanging. Sam prodded him. “She was never what?”

“Cruel.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam said. “No way is Donna Moss ever cruel. I’m sure you’re just misinterpreting her words because you’re still pissed she left you for a better job and more responsibility.”

“She left me for Bob freaking Russell,” countered Josh testily. “Don’t tell me I’m misinterpreting anything; you don’t know what she said. She’s an accomplished spokesperson now, she knew exactly how to say things to convey exactly the meaning she wanted and to provoke the precise reaction she intended.”

“I’m sure you’re overreacting.”

“Go ahead, defend her if you want,” Josh said. “I mean, hell, you left too.”

“Josh…” Sam was stunned at the bitterness in those three words.

“The debate’s starting. I gotta go.”

The line went dead. What the hell? Sam wanted to call back, to defend himself. How dare Josh offer up that line of crap and hang up. Not everything was a deliberate attack on poor, abandoned Joshua Lyman. It wasn’t like Josh had been in touch all that much since Sam had left the White House to run for the 47th. 

He remembered the night of the special election, sitting in campaign headquarters. After thanking his staff, he retired to the bar to drink himself blind with Toby, who had procured an 18-year-old scotch and was matching him glass for glass. All that day, Donna had been phoning to check in on Josh’s behalf, and once just for herself. After the race had been called, when Sam was drowning his sorrows, Josh called on his cell, apologizing over and over that he couldn’t be there with him.

It wasn’t the last time they’d spoken, but the last they’d conversed at any length. There had been quick celebratory birthday calls, of course. Sam had called when Zoey had been kidnapped, but Josh was too busy hiding from his grief by throwing himself at his work and, later, at Amy Gardner. He’d called again during the whole Chris Carrick defection debacle, and Josh had blown him off. 

Then came Gaza. Sam left a dozen messages on Josh’s office phone, and several more on his cell. He finally called Margaret and heard that Josh was flying to Germany to be with Donna. 

His stomach dropped at the memory of his own near panicked concern at the time, breaking him from his reverie. He turned on the television in his office to find Forrest Sawyer still outlining the rules that Josh had just described a few minutes ago. It all felt so formulaic. But Sam also recalled how President Bartlet had, in full “Professor” mode, used the rules to trounce Rob Ritchie four years ago, and hoped, for his friend's sake, that Lou knew what what she was doing.

Sam thought again about the call from the First Lady earlier that week, asking for help reconciling Josh and Donna, and how preposterous an idea this would have seemed a year ago. How, when he’d finally gotten a hold of Josh in Germany, there had been this sense that, in his panic and relief, that all of the barriers he’d built had fallen. That realizing how close he’d come to losing Donna made him confront how much she meant to him. How he couldn’t live without her.

In that moment, Sam knew that had she died he would have lost both of his best friends. 

This was why he was a bit surprised when he got a call from Donna last December telling him that she’d quit and was interviewing with the Russell campaign. He knew he’d fallen out of touch with them both. His last attempt, when Leo had his heart attack, had gone unanswered, and he’d gotten too busy with the firm and never followed up. Still, he figured that things would settle down and the next time he heard from either of them would be to save the date for their wedding. Instead, he found himself listening to Donna tell him how Josh was stifling her career, keeping chained to her desk more than ever. He listened, and he supported her and told her she could always use him as a reference, and he found himself as upset with his best friend as he’d ever been. 

It wasn’t until the next night when he’d heard from Josh. He was calling from a hotel in Houston to tell him that he’d flown there to ask a three time Congressman to run for President. He sounded lost, as if he couldn’t believe that his own actions. Santos had told him no, and based on the slur to his words, Josh had raided the room’s minibar in response. 

The memory stirred in Sam.

_“What are you doing, Josh?” Sam had asked._

_There’d been a pause, the sound of him taking a long drink, before he began to talk. “I really don’t know anymore, Sam. Leo told me to find a guy, to pick the smartest, most capable, most hon- honorable man I could think of, an’ have a confers-, connerv-, to go talk to him. An’ I did, an’ he said no. An’ Donna left me an’ now I can’t keep her safe anymore and I don’t know what I’m doing, Sam.”_

_“Donna left?” He’d feigned ignorance._

_“Walked out! Outta my office, outta my life. No notice, no nothing,” Josh seemed on the verge of tears. “Last time she left she fell in love wi’ Heathcliff of the IRA an’ then her car exploded. An’ I thought even if we could never be more than friends at least I could protect her an’ now she hates me for missing lunches and getting her blown up and I’m never gonna see her again.” There was a moment and Sam was sure he heard Josh take a long shuddering breath before he spoke again. “Oh god, I’m flying to Palm Beach to see my mom tomorrow. She’s gonna kill me. She adores Donna. Did I ever tell you, she said, she said that I should ask Donna to marry me ‘cause I’m never gonna find anyone who is as amazing as she is and can put up with me or anyone i look at like i look at Donna and I laughed it off and made a joke, an’ now I think she was right. And it’s all gone, Sam. I screwed up everything.”_

_Sam heard Josh openly crying, and it took him aback. He’d seen Josh drunk many, many times, and he was well acquainted with the tragedies his friend carried with him, and he could never remember hearing such despair in his voice. _

_“I’m sorry, man,” Josh continued. “I shouldn’t lay this all on you. ‘Snot your problem. You gotta have you got your own crap to deal with out in California. Have a merry Christmas.”_

Sam remembered that Josh had hung up then, just as he had earlier tonight. He remembered having the urge to call him back then too, but figured it was best to let him sleep it off, especially if he had an early flight the next morning. 

The next time he heard from Josh was a couple weeks later when he was asking Sam to come join the Santos campaign. There was no sense that he remembered their previous conversation, and Josh had hung up fairly quickly once Sam had declined his offer.

He glanced at the screen, and immediately saw that both candidates were off script and ignoring the rules. They were battling on a range of topics - Vinick’s tax plan, Santos’s education plan, immigration, healthcare. He immediately saw that Josh’s guy holding his own, even in this unstructured format. Maybe the answers weren’t as polished as Sam would like, but the Congressman had a good head on his shoulders. Sam almost let out a cheer when Santos gave a passionate defense of liberalism and what it had brought to the nation.

He continued to watch the post debate coverage on MSNBC. For one brief segment, Donna was interviewed alongside Jacob Rittenhouse, Republican on Ways and Means, sparring over Vinick’s tax cut plan. Donna was laying out some solid points about the irresponsibility of it all, that it could have catastrophic effects on the most vulnerable Americans. She reminded the audience that President Lassiter had pushed through tax cuts three times in eight years, and it had only ended up causing the national debt to skyrocket, something it had taken the financial discipline of the Bartlet administration to bring under control.

It was a long way from the young woman who asked for her money back when the country had run its first significant surplus in three decades.

He waited a little longer for the coverage to wind down, and then picked up his cell phone.

“Donna Moss,” she answered, but he could hear her smile; she’d seen his number.

“Looking good out there,” Sam said, his voice filled with pride. “You took Rittenhouse out to the woodshed.’

“Rittenhouse is an ass,” Donna said. “He went toe-to-toe with Jo- with the White House several times after you left. I learned his weaknesses years ago. He’s all bluster and very, very little substance behind it.”

“Well, you just proved that to several million people,” Sam said. “How’d you end up on taxes?”

“CNN had grabbed Secretary Browning to go against Gacey,” Donna replied. “I was available, so our insufferable campaign manager decided to throw me to the wolves.”

“Josh wouldn’t have sent you out there to get embarrassed, Donna.”

She began to protest, but caught herself. “No, I suppose not. He’s not going to do anything that would reflect badly on the campaign. He was going to do it himself, but Fox had Gibson, and he wanted a piece of him.”

“Josh and Darren Gibson? I wish I’d seen that,” Sam laughed.

“It was split screen, so no punches were thrown or blood shed, but Josh came back with a self-satisfied little smirk, so I think it went well for him,” Donna admitted.

“Good,” Sam said. “So, how are you enjoying the campaign?”

“I… I love my job. I love the work,” she answered. “I think the Congressman is a great candidate and a good man, and I’m proud to support him.”

“But…?”

“No, there’s no buts,” Donna said. “It’s a great opportunity for me. I’m learning a lot. Lou has me doing a lot more than press conferences. I’m where I want to be. Where I need to be.”

“I’m still hearing a tiny ‘but’ in there,” Sam pressed. “You’re one of my best friends, Donna, you can tell me.”

“Yes, but you’re his best friend too,” she said, finally. He could sense her gathering her thoughts. “He only talks to me when he needs something from me. I mean, he isn’t ignoring me, he’s listening to what I say and acting on it, but he’s keeping everything professional. He still blames me for leaving.”

Sam felt a pang. “Yeah. Join the club,” he said, a sardonic twist to his tone. “We’ve got jackets.”

“What?” Donna asked, incredulous. “It’s been almost four years!”

“It’s okay, Donna. I think he’s just feeling isolated and he’s throwing up walls to protect himself.”

“Still, that’s ridiculous. You two were inseparable, as much as Leo may have wanted to move you to different buildings at times.” She hesitated before she asked, “What did you do to earn the ire of Captain Bligh?”

“I told him he could still trust you.”

“Oh,” she whispered.

“He does, Donna,” Sam said. “He wouldn’t have put you out there tonight if he didn’t.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was strained. “I guess… I guess that’s as much as I can hope for right now.”

“He’ll let you back in, Donna. He can’t stay mad forever. Not at you.”

“I left him, Sam,” she said, “I’ve left him twice, and this last time to go work for a guy I knew wasn’t good enough to be President.”

“We all do that, especially starting out,” Sam pointed out.

“I said things. Mean things. Things I knew would hurt him,” she continued.

“And we all do that, sometimes,” he said, “especially when we’re hurt and fighting with people we care about.”

“Oh Sam, what if I screwed it all up? What if we can’t ever be friends again?”

“If that’s what you want,” Sam said, his tone even, “then I promise you I will do everything I can to help. Right now, just keep doing the great job you’ve been doing. I guarantee you, Josh still cares about you and he'll come around.”

“It doesn’t feel like it, but okay.” He heard Donna yawn into the receiver. “God, it’s been a day. Thanks for calling, Sam.”

“Anytime, Donna. I’m going to get better at it, I swear.”

“Things settling down for you at the firm, though?” she asked.

“Yeah, and even so, I’m only working sixty to seventy hour weeks, so I’ve got more time than you to keep in touch,” Sam pointed out.

“After this is all over, we have to get dinner and catch up,” Donna said.

“Absolutely. I’ll come visit. The three of us can hit the Hawk and Dove, just like old times.”

She made a soft snort, that might have been a laugh. “Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you mean?” she asked. “When you said if that’s what I want?”

Sam took a breath. Of course she would catch that phrasing. “I meant that if you only want to repair your friendship with Josh, I will help make that happen. And if, for whatever reason, you think you might want something more than that?”

“Yeah?” she asked, breathlessly.

“If you find yourself wanting more, well, you should know you’ve got allies in that as well,” Sam stated, projecting all the support he could muster.

“Oh,” she said, sounding pleasantly surprised. “Thank you, Sam. It looks like I have to go - they’re calling us in for a wrap-up meeting, Have a great night.”

“Good night, Donna.” Sam shut his cell phone, feeling a little better. There was still a long way to go to break through to Josh, but it helped to know there was a group of people who loved him too much to let him get away with this self-destructive behavior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking a lot about what Sam would be doing from when he leaves in season 4 until he comes back, and how things would've gone if Rob Lowe had been more of a team player. This chapter just sort of grew into a quick guess of his interactions in this AU.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during "Undecideds", Charlie and Zoey finalize their wedding party.

“Zoey!” Will said as he approached the two women in the hall. “And Ellie… this is a surprise. Let me first offer my congratulations to you and Charlie.” He looked past them, and to the left and right.

“Charlie’s in with CJ,” Zoey told him, “Which was predictable. So Ellie came to back me up.”

“Will,” her sister said, evenly.

“Well, welcome to you both,” said Will, trying to hide his discomfort. “CJ should only be about five minutes.”

He directed the pair into Toby’s - his - office. No matter what he’d done, it felt like he was a guest in this room. He would swear up and down he could still smell burning paper, even after he’d swapped in his own trash can.

“So about the band…” Will wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

“Yes?” Zoey said, looking over at her sister with a wry grin.

“Schrӧdinger’s Pussycats?”

“Is there a problem?” Zoey asked sweetly. “They’re really good. I saw them three times when I was at Georgetown.”

“I’m sure they cause quite the stir on the local bar scene-”

“They rock!” Zoey exclaimed, startling Ellie and making her laugh.

“Even so, is there any way they would consider changing their name?” Will tried, diplomatically. “Just for this event, mind you.”

“Well,” Zoey said, “When I first saw them, they did have a shorter name.” She watched the hope grow in the newly minted Communication Director’s eyes. “But they added the ‘cats’ to make themselves more appealing for weddings and bat mitzvahs and such.”

“Ah,” he said. “So they were Schrӧdinger’s Pu-”

“Yup.”

“Clever, but probably not something I want to say at the podium to the White House Press Corps.”

“Chicken!” Zoey giggled.

“And I suppose they can’t go by Schrӧdinger’s Cats?” Will asked.

Ellie shook her head. “There’s another band based in UVa by that name.”

“Okay,” Will surrendered with a sigh. “Well, there’s still some concerns about the playlist. We’re wondering if we can pull some things.”

“Such as?” asked Zoey.

“Just how attached are you to ‘Baby Got Back’?”

\-----

Charlie sat in the Chief of Staff’s office with CJ, Kate Harper, and Undersecretary of State Ted Barrow, glad that Ellie had agreed to help Zoey out with the last minute details for the wedding. He hadn’t expected to be pulled into an effort to avert conflict between two nuclear powers over Kazakhstan’s oil, but he’d known it would be something keeping him away.

They’d been at it for a couple hours when there was a knock. Will Bailey entered, exasperation evident on his face. “You gotta get in there, CJ. I’m dying.”.

“Is Margaret not available?” CJ asked.

Will shook his head. “Listen, I sympathize with what you’re dealing with, but Central Asia has been a disaster for years and you aren’t going to fix it today. In the meantime, the bride-to-be is mocking me, CJ. She’s taken the piss, pulled my leg and yanked my chain.” Will turned to Charlie. “Metaphorically speaking, of course. And Ellie hates my guts.”

At that moment Margaret entered through the open door, carrying two wedding gowns.

“See, here’s Margaret. She’ll help you.” CJ said.

Margaret spoke, explaining that Shirley, the social secretary, had informed her that there might be a problem with the applique flowers on the dress that Zoey had picked out, fearing it had been created by child labor. The two dresses she was carrying were samples from designers who’d expressed interest in making a dress for Zoey.

After handing the samples to Will, Margaret turned to CJ. “Josh called again.”

“Take care of it,” CJ replied curtly, and Margaret walked back to her desk.

Charlie looked over at the Chief of Staff with surprise that she was farming that out to Margaret. Yes, it was late notice and it probably would be detrimental to the President’s health to fly back from Camp David only to hop on Air Force One for an overnight flight to Los Angeles. And he was quite sure if CJ had explained that way, Josh would understand. Yes, he wanted to win, but he loved the President too much to put him at risk.

CJ had turned back to Will. “You're doing great. Just make sure you get a decision about the food. Salmon's out, and so is swordfish and tuna and brie, which Margaret seems to think is a fish as well.”

Undersecretary Barrow lifted his head from the document he was reading. “She's pregnant?”

“Excuse me?”

“Swordfish, tuna, soft cheeses... am I the only one in the room with kids?” he asked.

CJ’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and she turned to look at Charlie, who offered a shrug and a half smile. “Tell her we'll find something with an empire waist.” she said to Will.

“I don't even know what that means,” the man complained, his eyes pleading to be released from his task.

“In the service of your country, son,” offered the Undersecretary, trying to bolster him.

After Will walked away with the dresses, CJ got up and walked over to Charlie. “You, stand up.”

He rose hesitantly to his feet, only for CJ to envelop him in a fierce hug. “Congratulations to you both. But don’t think for a moment we aren’t going to be having a long discussion about keeping secrets from your boss like this.”

Kate and Ted offered their own well wishes to the young man.

“CJ,” he said, “Would you mind if I went over to Santos headquarters and broke the news to Josh in person? I need to talk to him about a thing anyway, and I don’t know if a phone call from Margaret is the best way to let him down.”

She looked at him closely. “Okay, but be back in an hour. And bring me back a coffee.”

“Thanks,” he said, heading for the door. “Text me if you want something other than your usual.”

He stopped by Margaret’s desk on his way out, seeing her frowning at her phone. “I’m heading over now, I’ll let Josh know.”

“Thanks,” Margaret said. It had been a rough time for her, and she and Charlie had commiserated in the year that CJ had held this office, watching the once tight-knit family of the Senior Staff fracture and go their separate ways. Margaret missed Leo terribly, and seeing him campaigning on the news tended to exacerbate those feelings. She’d confessed to Charlie that she had seriously considered training Carol to take her place, but her sense of duty and promises to Leo and CJ kept her at her desk.

Charlie stopped in Will’s office where he gave Zoey a quick kiss before telling her to give the poor man a break from her incessant teasing. In return, she gave him a little pout, a much more passionate kiss, and no promises.

He caught a cab over to the offices where the Santos campaign was headquartered and moved purposefully through the chaos to Josh’s desk.

“Hey Ronna, is he in?” he asked the aide at the desk near Josh’s office. They’d met a few times, in the primaries and at the convention.

“He just got back,” Ronna said. “Be gentle - we’re having a bit of a day.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Charlie said, moving to the door.

Josh looked up at the knock. “Hey. Please tell me you come bearing the good news of a late night, cross country flight of Air Force One.” He saw the regretful expression on his friend’s face and his shoulders slumped. “Let me guess, ‘we ran it by the President, but he can’t make it on this short notice.’ Am I close?”

Charlie hesitated. “No. CJ never took it to him. You knew?”

Josh’s eyes snapped to Charlie’s. “Yeah. I was talking to To- I figured it out on my way back here. Thanks for your honesty, anyway.” He pressed the intercom button, and spoke again, “Ronna, can you get me Lou on the line? Thanks.”

Charlie stood awkwardly in the office, watching as Josh explained how he wasn’t able to get the President on board, that it had been last minute and he hadn’t been able to make it happen. Matt Santos’s campaign manager appeared to visibly age as he accepted blame for the failure, his eyes sunken and his posture defeated.

After hanging up, Josh spoke quietly, “Have you spoken to the President? Does he… doesn’t he believe that we’ve got a shot?” Charlie could hear the unspoken fear behind that question. Josh was really asking whether or not Jed Bartlet, the man for whom he’d worked so hard and given up almost everything, believed in him. That Josh could even doubt the President’s faith in him broke Charlie’s heart.

“He knows you do,” Charlie insisted vehemently. “CJ didn’t take it to him because even though he’s pushing himself way too hard over this trade agreement, he’d be on that plane in an instant. And he can’t do that anymore.”

“His body won’t take it,” Josh concluded. “I should have… I’m sorry, I never should have put CJ in that position. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking you want to get your guy elected,” Charlie said. “If the President had a lighter schedule, we might’ve been able to work it out. The timing sucked, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” Josh replied, unconvinced. “Well, say hi to CJ. Thanks for coming in person to let me down easy.”

Charlie stayed standing.

“Was there something else?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, “I don’t want to nag, but we’re getting kinda close to the wedding, and we didn’t get your RSVP. Zoey was worried.”

“Oh… crap… yeah,” Josh said as he rummaged amongst the papers on his desk before pulling out an embossed invitation with a small yellow post-it affixed. “I’ll… yeah, I’ll get on that. It must’ve gotten lost in the bustle. You know, you were supposed to wait until after the election.”

“Sorry about that,” Charlie said. “Plans changed. You’re still coming, right? I need you up there with me.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” said Josh, placing the invitation in his priority tray. “But you know I don’t have time to be anyone's best man, right?”

“I figured you were too busy to throw me a bachelor party,” Charlie noted. “I got Deanna to be my best… person. But you can still stand up for me. I gotta match Zoey’s bridesmaids.”

“I really don’t-”

“Sure you do. You’re going to be there anyway. Gary’s still has your measurements, right? So we can get the right tux for you. You just have to escort a bridesmaid down the aisle, eat dinner with us and then dance. It’s not too hard. What’s the problem?”

Josh picked up the invitation again, showing to Charlie so he could read the note, written in Zoey’s unmistakable flowery script. “Bring Donna.”

“And this is a problem?” Charlie asked.

“You’re damn ri-” Josh stopped himself, pushing down the anger. “Look, I don’t want to upset Zoey, but I also don’t want Donna feeling that I’m dragging her to a formal event like I used to. We aren’t those people anymore, and she’s made it pretty clear how much she resented those days.”

“She came here to work for you,” Charlie pointed out.

“She came to work for the Congressman. I knew eventually she’d see he was the right guy. She puts up with me because I got here first.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Anyway, she works for Lou, not me.”

“I don’t see the problem,” Charlie said, trying to hide his smile. “Even more reason for you to be a groomsman. That way you can abide by my lovely bride-to-be’s wishes and invite her, and since you’ll be sitting with the wedding party, she doesn’t feel like your hanger-on. We’ll seat her at the party table with Ginger and Debbie.”

Josh raised his hands in defeat. “Fine. I’ll let her know next time I talk to her.”

“Great. I understand if you can’t make the rehearsal…”

“Yeah, I think we’re in Philly that night. Or possibly Cincinnati. Maybe Santa Fe.”

“... so Sam can fill you in on what you need to do,” Charlie finished.

“Sam?” Josh asked, surprised.

“Yeah. Zoey paired him with Mallory,” Charlie said with a barely restrained grin.

“Your fiancée has quite the sense of humor, you know that?” Josh said.

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed. “She really is quite something.”

As Charlie left, he felt confident that he’d accomplished his part of the plan. It was up to Zoey to land the next step. He pulled out his phone to see that CJ had put in orders for Undersecretary Barrow, Kate Harper, Margaret, and a double shot, light soy, cinnamon-chai, light mocha-chino, no whip, sprinkles, and another double shot on top for herself. He sent a quick text Zoey to give his update, and to let her know that he probably would be stuck in the office for a while longer.

\- - - - -

The next morning saw Donna following the Congressman, his wife, Leo, Lou and Annabeth out of the church. Matt Santos had done the impossible - gone into that Church after a tragic shooting and brought the congregation around, and he did it not with the carefully crafted speech but by speaking from his heart. She thought her own heart would stop when he started talking about blaming the kid and the parents, but his message of compassion, even when you had to express or pretend what you couldn’t yet feel, had resonated with everyone there, in the pews and in her own soul. She wished Josh had been there so it might resonate with him as well.

She pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. Her breath quickened when she saw the notification for voicemail, but a quick check of the screen told her none of the numbers were him.

She punched the sequence to access her messages. Requests for comments from the campaign and interview requests were saved to be followed up when they were back at the hotel. There was one from Ronna with details on the Sunday show schedule. The last message was from Zoey Bartlet.

“Hi Donna! It’s Zoey. I have a big favor to ask - can you call me back tonight? I know you’re in California with the thing, but I’ll be up late, okay, so don’t worry about that? It would mean the world to me if you could.”

Once she’d settled into her seat in one of the SUV’s, she returned the call.

“Donna!” Zoey responded with an exuberance that made her smile. “How are you?”

“We’re doing well. I mean, we got a pretty good bump off the debate, but we still have a way to go,” Donna answered, somewhat nervously. “How are you? Your big day’s coming up.”

“I know!” Zoey said excitedly. “Ellie and I were at the White House yesterday getting the last details finalized. Charlie had to help CJ, so poor Will got to spend his Saturday with us.”

“Zoey, what did you do?”

“I may have been a bit rough on him,” she giggled. “Ellie wouldn’t help, though. I think she still hates his breathing guts for accidentally outing her and making her have to do that press conference.”

“Oh dear,” Donna said.

“I miss the old days of the first campaign, when you and I would drive Josh up the wall. He was the big brother I never had. Way, way more fun than Doug ever was. And we made a great team, knocking that big ol’ ego down a couple pegs.”

Donna found her smile growing wider at the memories. Zoey hung around for much of that first campaign, and had a little crush on Josh. Josh seemed oblivious to the young girl’s infatuation, but treated her as his favorite little sister, teasing her, playing games in those rare moments of free time on the bus or at night at a random hotel somewhere in America, answering her questions and generally being a friend instead of treating her as a possible annoyance. Donna, whose feelings for her boss even by that point could no longer be described as ‘little’, thought it was adorably sweet of him, and Zoey finally realized him being the big brother she never had was better than her adolescent fantasies. The three of them had grown very close, stealing away to catch a late showing of Rocky Horror in Grand Rapids, sampling the miniature golf courses of a dozen states, and the best ice cream shops (as researched by Donna) in a dozen more.

“Anyway, it’ll be okay,” Zoey was saying, “I’m making her give a toast at a White House wedding in front of a whole bunch of dignitaries, so she’ll forget about him and get mad at me for a while.”

“Will should appreciate that,” Donna said.

“So, you’re coming, right?” Zoey asked.

Donna was taken aback. “I… didn’t think I was invited. I never got an invitation.”

“Oh, that’s because the stuck up social secretary wanted to squeeze in one more committee chair. I sent a note to Josh to bring you. He didn’t tell you?”

“He’s really busy,” Donna said, finding herself reflexively trying to cover for him. “And we aren’t in the same place very often.”

“Donna!” Zoey whined, “Don’t tell me you two are still fighting!”

She sighed. “We aren’t fighting. We just… we aren’t as close as we were.”

“Well that’s stupid,” the younger woman stated firmly. “Anyway, you are invited, and I really do need you to come.”

“I’d be delighted,” Donna said. “So, that big favor you called about, is it wedding related?”

“Oh, yes! I was wondering, you see, I know it’s last minute…”

Donna found her awkwardness endearing. “Zoey, what is it?”

“Well, you remember Gina? Gina Toscano? She was on my detail before…” _Before the assassination attempt at Rosslyn._ “And she felt so bad afterwards, and had to step down from active duty, but we kept in touch and after, well, after graduation…” _After Zoey had been kidnapped._ “She and I started talking more, and she helped a lot. So I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids, but she said she didn’t think she can, that it might be too much, so…”

“Zoey, did you want me to try to talk to her?” Donna asked.

“No,” Zoey said, more firmly. “I’m hoping you can take her place and be my bridesmaid.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Can you do it? Please?” Zoey asked. “I know you’re super busy, and I know it’s last minute, but if you can get a couple hours free I will fly Susan - she’s making the dresses - out to you to take your measurements and it would mean so much to me and Charlie…”

Donna let out a soft sigh. “Zoey, of course I’ll be there for you. You’re... like my kid sister.”

Zoey laughed. “That’s funny. I always thought of you as my favorite sister-in-law. Or, at least, the first girlfriend of my brother’s that I actually liked.”

“Zoey, you don’t have a brother.”

“Sure I do,” Zoey said. “Thanks again, Donna, you’re the absolute best!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay - this has not been the easiest chapter to write. I'd covered "The Undecideds" in a different story, and I've been trying to come up with a fresh angle.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the wedding is nearly here, but a change in the polls is causing its own tension.

They were wrapping up the conference call. The visit to the church had been a success, and Josh felt like he was able to take his first breath since he’d heard about the shooting. Once again Matt Santos had risen to the challenge. Leo was effusive in his praise, saying it reminded him of Jed Bartlet at his finest.

Josh mustered his courage. “Hey, um, Donna, can you stay on the line? I need… I got a thing to go over with you.”

“Okay,” her voice came back, slightly muffled over the speakerphone.

He shooed Ronna out of his office, asking her to close the door behind her and telling her she could have the rest of the day off. It made him feel like he was engaging in some sort of illicit affair instead of a simple request.

He picked up the receiver. “Donna?”

“Hi,” she said, her voice clearer. She’d gone off speaker as well.

“I was wondering,” he began. He reminded himself he was doing it for Charlie and Zoey, and that he promised himself to do everything to make their wedding and marriage a success. “I mean, I know things haven’t been great…”

“Josh, what is it?”

He took a deep breath and dove in. “Zoey asked me to bring you to the wedding as my guest. I say this because I don’t want you to think I’m asking because I couldn’t get a date - I mean, I can’t, who has the time in the middle of an election - but I don’t want you to think I’m using you. I know that it's awkwrd, and you don’t have to stay by my side or pretend or anything, and it will be good for the campaign, and you can network with the party elders, and, y’know, see your friends there.”

“Josh,” Donna tried to interrupt, “It’s okay. Zoey called and told me. I’d be happy to go with you.”

“Oh,” Josh said. “Oh - good. That’s good. Do you need to get a dress? That’s a thing for weddings, right? I mean, I’ll make sure Lou gives you time to do that.”

“It’s fine, Josh,” she said. “I already have a dress.”

“Okay. Of course you do. I mean, you’ve probably done this before,” he stammered out. “Okay then. I’ll guess I’ll see you there. Um, good work today.”

“Thanks,” Donna said, amused at his awkwardness. “Um, Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re still meeting us in Philly later this week, right? I only ask because you said you’d see me at the wedding.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll see you, I mean, all of you, then. Okay, I gotta go.”

As she hung up the phone, Donna found herself smiling at the whole encounter. His nervousness had been charming in its way. And it felt like he was talking to her as a person he knew instead of another political cog in his machine, and that he was trying to be considerate of her feelings. It was progress.

\- - - - -

A week later, Donna found herself standing nervously outside a room that Leo had commandeered for a phone call. Lou had returned with Josh to D.C. to work out a way to finance the suddenly competitive Illinois, and she knew Leo would be heading back later. She hovered at the open door, eavesdropping. It was a bad habit, she knew, but it had served her well over the years.

“-just a few meetings with donors, and then I’ll head back to the hotel to get dressed. Did you want to meet me there?”

Donna found herself startled. She thought that something was happening between Leo and Annabeth, and it sounded like he was making plans to go to the wedding with someone else. She found herself getting angry at him for Annabeth’s sake.

“I nearly forgot that. I’ll meet you there, then. Sorry, Mallory, it’s been a rough week, but I can’t remember having this much fun on the campaign trail. It’s nice to let someone else crack the whip and do all the worrying.”

Donna felt a bit ashamed at jumping to conclusions. Of course he was talking to his daughter. And it was great to know that he was enjoying himself. She’d had doubts when Leo had been announced as the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate; he was less than a year removed from a heart attack, had never run for office before, and had been publicly outed for his alcoholism and opioid addiction treatment. She had always assumed that Leo was like his protege, happier running the show from the shadows. But Leo had been Secretary of Labor; he’d been in the spotlight, and she’d come to see what Josh did - that the Vice Presidency would afford him the chance to be the statesman he always had the potential to be as well as offer the counsel that Matt Santos needed.

“Love you, baby, see you tomorrow,” Leo said as he hung up the phone. Donna could see the smile on his face, and hesitated, not wanting to disturb his mood.

“Hey kid, did you need something?”

“Sorry,” Donna said, “I didn’t want to disturb you, but Josh and Lou haven’t landed in D.C. yet, and I keep getting calls from the press about Illinois.”

“Just tell them the Congressman and I are very excited.”

She hesitated, unsure how to proceed. “They want to know why we weren’t contesting the state before.”

Leo looked over at her. “They’re making it about Josh?”

Donna nodded. “The story back in the early primaries had been that even running Santos was a vanity exercise for him, and now the vultures are circling, saying he’s in over his head.”

“It’s gonna be fine. The press is always going to second guess us. We did the best we could with the information we had at the time.”

“I’m worried, Leo.” She hugged herself tightly against a chill that had nothing to do with the room’s air conditioning.

“I know it’s rough,” he responded, “but Josh and Lou are working to find the money to pay for Illinois. They’ll get it done.”

“It’s rougher than it needed to be,” Donna said. “We’re short on money because we wasted it all on the primaries. If we’d only seen what Josh did back then…”

“It doesn't do us any good to second guess ourselves either, Donna,” Leo said. “I told Josh to go find a guy, and then I didn’t put enough faith in his choice, and that’s on me. You worked for Russell because he was the front runner and it was a great opportunity for you. So Josh proved us all wrong. Now we all work to help make up for lost time.”

“I just wish…”

“Don’t,” he chided her. “You did what you had to do. And thank God you did, since nothing I was saying was getting through that thick skull of his. He never would have left if you’d stayed, Donna, you have to know that.”

The enormity of that statement, echoing what CJ had told her weeks ago, overwhelmed her. “I… I do know that,” she said, her eyes downcast. “I just wish I’d done things differently.”

“It’ll be fine,” Leo repeated. “You can’t let yourself wallow in the ‘what coulda beens’. We’ve got too much work to do.”

Donna fell silent for a moment. “Yeah. I think I’ll go see if Josh and Lou have gotten in. Thanks, Leo.”

“Hey kid,” he called after her as she turned to leave. “I know things look bleak, but you just have to have a little faith.”

“I never really lost it,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

\- - - - -

Donna headed to the room they’d claimed for conference calls. She had a meeting with Bram and some other staffers in at 9:30 and she was hoping to touch base with Josh before it started.

She dialed his cell, but it went right to voicemail. Flustered, she stammered out that she’d try at the office, and proceeded to do that. It rang eight times before a familiar voice answered.

“Santos-McGarry for a brighter future, can you please hold?”

“Edie, it’s Donna!” she exclaimed hurriedly. “I just need to know if Josh and Lou are back!”

“Oh,” Josh’s deputy campaign director said. “Hey Donna. We haven’t seen them yet, no.”

“Okay, I’ll try later. Thanks, Edie.”

“Before you go,” Edie said, “you know Josh pretty well, right?”

Donna fought back a surge of emotion. The campaign staff had learned of their history, and as much as it hurt her to think about, she found herself offering advice on how to deal with his many moods. “Yeah?”

“Ronna’s worried. We got the tux delivered from Gary’s, and they screwed it up. How pissed is he going to be?”

“Is it the wrong size?” Donna asked.

“No,” Edie said. “They just sent the wrong color bowtie and cummerbund. I mean, it’s kind of a dark brown, so it might blend okay if no one looks too close, but…”

“Dark brown? Like a rich chocolate color?” Donna asked.

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

“Had a hunch,” she said, chewing absently on a thumbnail. “Tell Ronna not to worry about it. It’ll be fine.”

“Thanks. I gotta get back to the phones - we’re getting swamped with calls from every elected Democrat in the state of Illinois. I hope Josh gets here soon.”

“Good luck with that,” Donna said, and hung up.

Chocolate tie and cummerbund. Josh was in the wedding party, and he hadn’t told her. She should have realized, of course. Josh had hired Charlie. He’d introduced him to Zoey. He’d nearly given his life for their relationship at Rosslyn. But it would have been nice if he’d let her know.

Granted, she hadn’t told him she would be one of Zoey’s attendants either.

Someone was having some fun with them. Mocking their pain - no, not that. This didn’t feel like an ill advised practical joke at all. As she thought of it, it felt a little like a sitcom, where the characters try to trick the two estranged friends into talking, leading to a heartwarming reconciliation scheme.

Obviously Zoey would be the ringleader. Once again Donna thought of how close the three of them had been on the original campaign trail. She thought of Zoey’s words, that she saw Donna as her favorite sister-in-law, or the first girlfriend of her brother that she liked, and realized that the President’s daughter had been rooting for them for years.

Charlie, of course, loved his bride-to-be too much to not be a co-conspirator. Sam’s words the night of the debate, suggesting that she had allies if she wanted something more than just restoring her friendship with Josh - could he be in it too? How deep did it go?

She thought idly that she should be furious. Her friends seemed to be involved in a hare-brained scheme that affected both her and Josh. And with him beating himself up about missing the movement in Illinois, he didn’t need anyone adding any more stress or discomfort to him.

And yet, if it worked? She’d locked eyes with Josh tonight for the first time in so very long, when he told her to kill the rumor they were pulling out of Arizona. There was still so far to go, but they were at least talking again. It hadn’t been banter, but it hadn’t been pure business either. He’d made that lame “killer game of Boggle” joke, which was in itself a significant step. It didn’t feel hopeless anymore. And if this cockamamie plan worked, if he would finally let her back in, they could go back to being the unstoppable force they’d been in the White House, only more so.

She knew she should tell him. But then he would dig in his heels and be so him about the whole thing. He’d be obstinate for the sake of obstinacy, and that would set them, and probably the campaign, further back.

The people for her 9:30 meeting were filing into the room now. She could worry about that tomorrow. Right now, they had an election to win.

\- - - - -

Josh sat in his office, trying to shake the feeling that Mike Diacovo was right. The network analyst had just suggested to the entire nation - or at least that subset watching MSNBC at that time - that Matt Santos should pick a new campaign manager.

His desk was covered with papers showing every tracking poll since they’d won the Democratic nomination. He’d looked for any sign of how he missed that the state was possibly in play. He poured over meeting minutes, highlighting every time Illinois had come up, desperate to see where he’d gone wrong. Was it just the _Tribune_ endorsement that moved the needle?

He leaned back in his chair, pressing his palms into his eyes. The office was eerily silent, and he glanced at his watch to see it was going on 2 in the morning. He had a meeting in six hours with the head of DNC operations in Chicago, and meetings every half hour after that until 1. After that, it would be back to the office to get a little work done before heading to the White House for the wedding.

He thought of the plan he’d worked out with Lou to pay for the Illinois ad buy - to pull out of New Hampshire, and halve the spending in Iowa and Wisconsin. It didn’t sit right, but then nothing did. Without California’s fifty-five electoral votes, he was facing the most difficult map in recent history.

He should sleep. If he headed back to his apartment now, he might even get almost five hours. He started stacking the papers, thrusting them in a folder and wondering when it had all gotten so hard. _When she left_, he thought to himself, and he shoved the thought away. She was back now, and back doing her usual exemplary job. She’d handled everything he and Lou had asked of her. He could probably ask for more, too. They’d involved CJ in pretty much every aspect of the Bartlet campaigns, so it wouldn’t be out of line to bring her in and bounce ideas off her.

No. He couldn’t ask that of her. She worked for Lou, for one, and the tension was still there, even if they could talk civilly on the phone now. He’d tried to joke with her tonight, telling her that the intense senior meetings they’d been having were a game of “Boggle”, but it had fallen flat. But then, he thought he could hear her smile when she called out “whiz” as part of the traditional Philadelphia cheesesteak order. And when he’d done as Zoey asked, she’d said she would be “happy” to go with him.

He should have told her that he was going to be a groomsman for Charlie, and he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. Maybe he was pretending it was a real date, trying to gauge her reaction at being seen with him. Would she be disappointed they wouldn’t be sitting together?

He laughed softly to himself. The obvious answer was of course not. She’d be with her friends. Of course she’d be happy to go with him, if that was the way to go to the wedding. He’d seen how she’d shined as spokesperson, first for Russell and now for them. He’d reviewed the tapes of her post-debate spin. While he’d always known how smart she was, this was a new side of her, deftly moving among and finding her place in the circles of power and influence. The wedding would represent a chance to network and of course she’d be happy about that.

He sighed and reached for the files on the Wisconsin delegation members he’d be meeting in the morning. There was an election to win, after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hours before the wedding, Donna chats with Matt Santos, who should have ordered the hoagie.

Donna stifled the laugh building inside at the sight of cheese whiz dripping on Matt Santos’s shirt. There was good reason that stuff was considered anathema in her home state of Wisconsin. The congressman was handling it well, joking with Governor Baker that he’d have to come to Houston for some real Texas barbecue.

She thought back to Josh’s warning that they should get a hoagie instead, and wondered if she could make a joke about it to try to get his mind off the tumult over Illinois, or at least get an ego-boosting “I told you so” out of him. She wasn’t sure they were at that place yet, but it was worth a try.

She knew Josh was in meetings all morning, including one with Stan Mitchell from the Chicago field office. Stan had emailed her his own “told you so” the previous night, and had thanked her for encouraging the meeting at the _Tribune_. There was another pang of regret, that if she hadn’t been so combative that day in the hotel room in Michigan, maybe she would have been comfortable sharing Stan’s concerns about the possibilities in the state and its twenty-one electoral votes.

Leo was right, self-recrimination wasn’t going to do any good at this point. She stood by as Santos and Baker took questions, ready to supply documentation to source any of their more important statements.

She kept her feelings under wraps about Governor Baker, trying not to think about how his refusal to accept Russell’s offer of the Vice Presidency had changed everything at the Convention. She found herself speculating on how a Russell campaign would be doing right now, and surmised that only being seven points down would be a pipe dream. Maybe Russell-Baker would have shored up the Northeast, and played in Colorado, but they’d probably be heading for a blowout that would make Nixon’s victory in ‘72 seem tight.

She kept an eye on her watch, marking the time before she could wrap this up and head back to Washington. She had actual butterflies in her stomach. She could ill afford the extra half hour they’d tacked on to accommodate Baker, and knew it would be a race to get from the airport to the White House in time to get her makeup and hair done before photos at 4 o’clock. She’d been a bridesmaid before, several times, but she’d never felt quite so nervous about it.

Of course, her theory could still be wrong. She did have a bond with Zoey dating back to the original campaign trail, and Charlie and Josh were as close as brothers; being selected as attendants could be coincidental. But Donna thought of the endearingly awkward way Josh explained that Zoey had wanted him to ask her to the wedding. No, she wasn’t being paranoid here.

She’d lost some sleep worrying about her decision to play along. She wanted to show Josh that he could trust her, and willingly participating in Zoey’s scheme felt like a betrayal of that. The funny part is that a couple years ago, it wouldn’t even be a concern. Josh trusted her then, and he understood that sometimes she would finesse a situation when it was in his best interest. It had been part of the dance between them.

Dance. The thought whirled around in her brain. If she was right, and she was sure that she was, in just a few hours she’d be dancing with Josh. And while it wouldn’t be the first time they’d shared the dance floor together, it would be the first with this new, uncertain dynamic between them. In previous times, it had felt almost effortless, the way they’d moved together, attuned to one another and the music. There had been a tension there as they waltzed along that uncrossable line, but it had manifested as an electric thrill and in no way an impediment to their rhythm. She thought of those times, the intoxication of being in his arms, and how she’d pretended that was enough.

Today would be different. Today she would find out if all she’d done in the past year, the steps she’d needed to take for her own career and sanity, had destroyed dreams she’d had for the better part of a decade.

Donna was used to finding new dreams. Nine years ago she’d dreamed of being a doctor’s wife, and before that a scientist, a psychologist, an actor, and a teacher. A collection of “what I want to be when I grow up” essays from elementary school would reveal a dizzying array of future career goals. Her father had called her flighty and her mother worried she would never settle down, but the truth was that everything fascinated her and she wanted to explore it all. Underneath it all, though, was always the desire to help, to have a positive impact on people’s lives. That was what had driven her to pick up the shambles of her life and drive from Madison to Nashua. And that was the reason that she’d quit in the middle of the bullpen last December.

If her dreams of finding love with Josh had to fall by the wayside as well, she would live with that too.

But that dream wasn’t dead yet. Josh had told her that he’d missed her every day. Her friends were on her - on _both_ her and Josh’s - side. She knew he wasn’t the kind of guy who was intimidated by powerful, intelligent women, so now seeing her as a player in Democratic party politics wouldn’t be an issue. She just needed him to see her, both as the woman who was attuned to him and as the brilliant operative she’d become.

Maybe she should dye her hair brunette?

Glancing again at her watch, she waited for the Congressman to finish answering a question before stepping in and letting the press know that they had to get back for the wedding.

As they got in the town car, Santos turned to Donna, “Well, chicken fighter, that certainly could have gone better.”

She handed him a moist towelette from her purse, with which he began dabbing at the unnatural yellow-orange splotches on his shirt. “I’m never going to escape that title, am I?” she asked with a somewhat theatrical sigh.

“I’m just glad you’re fighting on my side now,” the Congressman said. “I’m really sorry it took so long to bring you on board.”

“It’s okay,” she said, taken aback at his comment. “I understand why the decision was made.”

“Do you?” he asked. “To be honest, Donna, I’m getting a lot of calls - a lot of pressure about Josh. Folks telling me I need to make a change. Maybe not hiring you back in July was his first mistake. Maybe if we’d had you speaking for us from the start we’d be in better shape than we are now.”

Donna stared at him, surprised to hear her candidate be this frank with her. “Well,” she said hesitantly, “I came asking to be deputy, and I think Edie Ortega’s doing a wonderful job there. And if I had applied for spokesperson, I would have spent a lot of time dodging quotes I’d given when I’d worked for Russell.”

“You did hit us pretty good. I loved that line about the overhead compartment.”

"Yes," said Donna, blushing a bit, “I do apologize for that. It’s not like the Vice President had all the much more experience than you, and he didn’t even serve.”

“It’s fine, really,” Santos said. “I’ve been in the game a while; I wasn’t offended. And you’re with us now.”

“And that’s why you can’t get rid of Josh!” It came out more forceful than she intended, and caused Bram to look up from his phone. She smoothed her hands down her slacks. “Congressman, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. The only person that rivals his political ability is Leo McGarry, and he tried to get you to quit at the Convention! Josh has believed in you from the start, and he got you the nomination and he’ll win you this election.”

“Okay, okay!” he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “You’ve made your point, chicken fighter. I admit I’m a little surprised. Lou told me you two didn’t get along.”

“Um,” Donna said, looking away.

“I’m not trying to be difficult, and I don’t want you to tell me anything that makes you uncomfortable. It’s just that Josh Lyman showed up at my door nine months ago and turned everything upside down and I’ve barely gotten to know who he is outside of the political operative who wants to make me President.” Santos had an earnest expression. “I know he’s not a machine, as much as he tries to be. Leo‘s shared stories of some of the more outlandish antics Josh would get up to under Bartlet, and I guess I’m having trouble seeing that side of him.”

“I’m not sure what help I can…” Donna began, and then faltered.

“Donna,” he said, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper, “I’ve served in the House of Representative for six years, and Josh Lyman was the guy who used to come and bully us into voting the President’s way. You know this, because you used to schedule those appointments. You worked for him for years. And I know you were in the Gaza delegation, where we lost Dan DeSantos, Jimmy Holtman, Tom Korb and Admiral Fitzwallace. And I know that Josh Lyman flew to Germany to be with you.”

The Congressman paused as Donna’s face took on a horrified expression. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” he reiterated. “I think people’s personal lives should remain exactly that, personal. But you have to know there were a lot of rumors flying around Congress about how we were in an international crisis and Bartlet’s Bulldog was nowhere to be found.”

Bram broke in to say that the car was pulling into the airport, and Santos nodded to him before continuing to talk to Donna. “If we win in November, I’m going to spend the next four to eight years of my life with the guy, assuming Helen doesn’t kill him - or me - first, and I’m hoping you can give me some reason to look forward to that aside from Josh’s political acumen.”

“Congressman,” Donna began, “I… I don’t know what to tell you. Josh is… he’s a good man. He really wants to help people. He wouldn’t have asked you to run if he didn’t.”

“That’s not really what I asked, though.”

“I know,” she said, flustered. “It’s just… I don’t know anyone who works as hard as Josh does. But back in the White House, he would balance that. There were… we did have fun, sir. I promise you that we did. Josh can get really goofy when he lets himself relax. I just don’t know if he feels he can do that now that he’s the one running the show.”

Santos considered that as the car rolled to a stop on the tarmac. The Secret Service detail were on the move, opening the car door and ushering them all to the plane. They found their seats and soon the jet was hurtling down the runway.

Once in the air, Donna dialed Josh as Congressman Santos changed his shirt.

“Hey, how was Philly?” His tone was pretty upbeat, and it made her smile. He was happy she was calling.

“Pretty good, pretty good,” she said, priming him.

“Did you get the photo op?” Josh had caught on to the equivocation in her voice. They hadn’t lost all their subtle communication skills.

“No, we got it,” she told him. “A little problem with the cheesesteak, though.” Let him worry a little that the Congressman offended the blue collar voting bloc.

“He screwed up the order,” he said, taking the bait.

Donna reassured him. “Sauce and whiz, no onions.”

“That sounds fine.” There was a hint of confusion in his voice and it felt a little like the old games they’d play, and it warmed her heart.

Now to lead into the ego boost. “The whiz got a little drippy.”

“How drippy?”

“He probably should have ordered the hoagie,” she explained, giving him his moment.

“Who was at the photo op?” he asked.

“AP, Reuters, _the Times_, _Le Monde_…,” she reported. Josh seemed distracted, not interested in claiming the high ground she’d offered, and that worried her. “We figure it's probably front page of the _Philadelphia Inquirer_. Any way you'd like me to spin it? ‘Acts like a man, eats like a man’?”

“Yeah, I gotta go,” he said. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

She went to hang up when she heard him say her name, and brought the phone back to her ear. “Yes?”

“I forgot to tell you,” Josh said, his words tumbling out. “Charlie asked me to be in the wedding party today so that’s, er, a thing I’m going to do. I, um, thought you should know. I really gotta go.”

The call disconnected. “I’m in the wedding party too, you big goof,” she said quietly into the receiver. She looked to the ceiling and gave an audible growl of frustration.

“Was that Josh?” Santos asked as he finished buttoning up his new shirt. “Are you reconsidering your earlier support?”

“What?” Donna asked, surprised by his approach. “No! I mean, no, I still support Josh, I just… it was an awkward conversation.”

“But it was a conversation.” he said. “I’m glad to see you two talking again.”

“Me too, sir,” Donna said.

“So is my campaign manager insisting that I wear a bib for these photo ops?” Santos joked.

“He just wanted to know which papers were covering it. I’m sure it’ll be fine - I thought the joke about taking the Governor for barbecue landed well.” Donna’s tone was professional, if a bit distracted.

“Is there something on your mind?” the Congressman asked, registering that her attention wasn’t entirely focused.

“Did you know that Josh was part of the wedding party?” The question burst out before she could stop herself.

Santos leaned back and crossed his arms, regarding Donna closely. “Yes. He let me know last week that Charlie had asked him. I told him I’d try to free him up for the bachelor party, but you know Josh.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s just… Zoey asked me to be a bridesmaid.”

“No wonder you’ve been so antsy today!” he laughed. “If you want I can ask Trevor if he can put the hammer down and shave a few minutes off our flight time.”

Donna smiled slightly, “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I only bring it up because I think our friends may be playing matchmaker. And I didn’t want you to be surprised.”

Congressman Santos returned her small smile with a grin. “I told you that I think people’s personal lives should remain personal. But if you’re asking me if I would have any problem with my Campaign Manager dating my spokesperson, let me assure you that I’m in favor of anything that will help that man relax and realize he’s not alone out here.”

“I didn’t … I don’t think he feels…,” she stammered out.

“Donna, he dropped everything to fly to Germany. I think he does,” he said. “I'm just telling you that if something happens between, I certainly have no objections to it.”

"Oh," said Donna. "Um, thank you Congressman. I'll keep that in mind."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in the hours before Charlie and Zoey get married, Josh is having a bit of a day.

Josh worked his way methodically through the process of tying his bow tie in front of a mirror in one of the offices at Santos Headquarters. Cross the ends, up, fold, drape. Fold and pass through the loop and tug… and swear and start over. He grimaced repositioned the tie around his neck, the right side an inch and a half longer than the left.

He caught movement in the glass, and his eyes darted to see the reflection of Ronna hovering at the door.

“The car should be here in twenty minutes,” she announced.

“Thanks,” he nodded, his face screwing into intense concentration as he made another attempt.

“Would you like me to do it,” Ronna asked. “I’ve helped M- the Congressman - with his.”

“No!” he exclaimed, a little too harshly, causing her to flinch. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed out through his nose. “No, thank you. I just need… dammit… I got it, really. Thank you.”

Ronna nodded and retreated from the room, leaving Josh feeling disheartened. He hadn’t meant to yell; Ronna was a good kid who had no idea what she had asked of him, or on whose territory she was inadvertently encroaching. Tying his bow tie had been _their_ thing, one of the few measures of intimacy that they’d been able to share, back in the good times.

He forced those thoughts from his mind and let the muscle memory take over. He’d been able to tie his own bow tie since his father had taught him when he was a teenager, before events like the Debevoise holiday party or one of "Uncle Leo's" fancy political fundraisers. Of course, it was Josh’s mother who would tie Noah Lyman’s bow tie for such festivities, which felt a little unfair at the time to a fifteen year old clumsily struggling with the thin strip of silk.

He pulled the two sides taut, and judged it to be good enough. Not perfect, but who was? He gave another little tug and then headed for the war room, hoping to catch Congressman Santos to go over last minute strategy, maybe get a sense about the impact of the cheesesteak photo op.

He caught Santos coming out of one of the offices with Bram, discussing the new Texas ad buy.

“Congressman?” Josh said as he approached. He nodded to Bram, who read his anxious expression and made a quick exit.

“Josh,” Santos acknowledged him. “You heading over?”

“In a couple minutes.” He craned his neck, looking around the office.

“Donna went straight to the White House for the wedding,” the Congressman said, with a twinkle to his eye.

“What?” Josh said, his voice shooting into a higher register. “Oh, thanks, but... I was actually… I mean, I wanted to touch base with Lou first.”

“Of course,” Santos said knowingly. “Just don’t be late. I remember my own wedding. My brother got there five minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start and Helen still hasn’t forgiven him for it. It’s your job as a groomsman to make Charlie’s day go as smoothly as possible.”

“Yes sir,” Josh said. “Just a couple last minute things.”

“Was there something we need to discuss? You should know I’ve gotten every cheese and sloppy eater joke thrown my way already.”

“No jokes,” he promised. He grimaced, but squared his shoulders. “I’ve been in this game for a while. I know what you’ve got to be hearing from the party. We’re seven points down six weeks out, and I missed Illinois. If you have to…”

“Josh…” The Congressman was shaking his head, trying to stop him.

“If you have to make a move,” Josh repeated, before continuing, “I understand. I just hope… if you could, please wait until after today, or at least after tonight. I don’t want anything to distract from Zoey and Charlie. If you want, I can sit with you later, we can go over possible replacements.”

“Josh, I told you at the start of all this that I wanted you with me. That hasn’t changed.”

“I appreciate that, sir, but I know how this works. The most important thing is getting you past that finish line in November. I don’t - I can’t - matter, compared to that.”

Santos put a hand on Josh’s shoulder, “And I’ve heard enough of this foolishness. Go, have fun at the wedding. Your job for the rest of the day is to celebrate the love of two of your friends.”

“Thank you, sir,” Josh replied. “I guess I’ll see you there.”

\- - - - -

“You’ll never believe what Josh wanted to talk to me about,” Matt Santos said to Leo as the Secret Service closed the door to their car.

Leo looked up from where Annabeth was making minute adjustments to his tuxedo. “He told you he’d help you find his replacement.”

Helen Santos, sitting next to her husband, looked stunned, whereas Annabeth just looked sad.

“How did-” Santos began, but quickly realized the answer. “So what do we do? He’s right about the calls I’ve been getting.”

“We listen and make the best decision for the campaign,” Leo said. “Josh won’t let us do anything else.”

Helen scoffed. “Josh Lyman has had an iron grip on this campaign since he showed up at our door. I’ve never seen an ego as big as his. There’s no way he bows out gracefully.”

“You’re wrong, Mrs. Santos,” Leo said, earning a sour look for the formality. “Sure, he’s got a big ego; he’s damn good at what he does. But it’s always been in the service of something greater than himself.”

“I’m sorry, Leo,” she said, her face skeptical. “I just don’t see it.”

“Take last year, after my heart attack,” Leo replied. “He was deputy Chief of Staff. He was in line to replace me, but I told the President that CJ Cregg should get the job. I can’t imagine how that must have stung, but he stood by her and worked his ass off for her. Because that’s what you need to do - do the job that’s in front of you.”

Helen shook her head. “If he wasn’t qualified to replace you, why should we trust...”

“You misunderstand. I picked CJ because I needed Josh to do this, to go find the man who could succeed Jed Bartlet. So if you want to blame somebody for all of this, blame me.”

She considered his words. “I still don’t understand why he has to micromanage everything. It doesn’t seem like the best use of his time. Maybe that’s why he didn’t catch Illinois.”

“That may be so,” Leo admitted. “But none of us caught it either. Hard to blame the kid when it wasn’t like he ignored critical advice.”

“But his micromanagement issues?”

Leo knew Helen Santos was struggling with the enormity of a presidential campaign. That she missed her husband, and missed Matt being there for their young family, and she was blaming Josh for that. He was certainly a convenient target. In a lot of ways, Leo himself had used Josh as the easy scapegoat for problems in the administration, being much harder on him than Toby, C.J. or Sam. He always told himself that Josh had deserved it - he was the one willing to go a little over the line in pursuit of the President’s agenda, after all, the one who would get in there and throw the elbows and get in the mud with the opposition. But he also knew that by putting the hammer down on Josh, it helped keep the others in check.

“We’re hoping the micromanagement issues fade once he remembers there are people he can trust implicitly,” he said after a moment. “And ideally that starts today.”

The disdain present in Helen’s countenance had been replaced with a genuine curiosity. “Oh? How so?”

“Josh is brilliant, but he’s also a guy who does his best work in collaboration with other brilliant people. People who will inspire him but also challenge him.” Leo commented. “He’s been on his own for almost a year, and for the last three weeks he really hasn’t needed to be, except for his own pride and stubbornness.”

“I don’t understand,” the woman admitted. “He and Matt have been working together since January. They won…”

“Your husband does inspire Josh. That’s why we’re here, on this campaign. And he certainly challenges him. But while Josh is wholly on his side, the reverse isn’t true.”

Matt Santos interrupted then. “Now that’s not true. I am _on_ Josh’s side...”

“Just the way you were on Ned’s side?” Leo said, and then rushed to clarify himself at the Congressman’s angered expression. “You’re going to be President of the United States. You’re going to have to make these sorts of hard calls, for the betterment of the campaign, and later, the country. Josh understands that. That’s why he said what he did to you.”

“Which leaves me the unenviable position of possibly having to fire him,” The Congressman had been frowning from the moment that Leo had mentioned Ned and the firings from a few weeks prior. He’d told Josh then that anyone not getting the job done had to go.

“Like I said, we’ll listen and make the best call we can,” Leo said with a shrug.

Annabeth piped in, “Just don’t make any hasty decisions. At least wait until the end of the night. I have a very good feeling Josh is going to find himself inspired and reenergized after today.”

Helen looked at her, “That’s twice you and Leo have hinted that something’s going to happen today. What’s going on?”

Annabeth grinned, “Oh, I don’t want to ruin the surprise!”

\- - - - -

Josh walked into the Entrance Hall in a bit of a rush and more of a mood. He was mindful of the Congressman’s admonition to make the day about Charlie and Zoey, but there was so much to do. He finished a call to Otto and tried to make his way to the stairway to the left so he could join Charlie and the other attendants on the second floor of the Residence.

“Joshua Lyman, as I live and breathe,” came the unmistakable voice of CJ Cregg to his right.

He turned to see her, gorgeous as always in an elegant red dress. They exchange an awkward kiss in greeting.

“Running off to do your groomsmanly duties, _mi compadre_?” she asked.

“Trying, anyway,” he replied, scanning the room for predators. “I’m surprised Charlie didn’t lock down something for you.”

“He tried,” CJ admitted, “but you know how it is. International crises wait for no one.”

Josh’s expression went blank for a moment. “Yeah.”

“So you must all be excited.” Noticing his confused expression, she clarified. “Illinois.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, noticing Senator Montgomery and former Chairman Barry Goodwin conferring in a corner. “Hopefully we can afford it.”

“Pinching pennies?”

“Pretty much,” he confirmed, feeling the weight of the map in his pocket drag at him.

“You’re up a bit in Washington,” CJ pointed out. “Can you pull money from Seattle?”

“We’re pulling out of Washington,” he said, flatly.

“Wow, things that tight?”

“Welcome to my world,” he shrugged. “I really need to get upstairs.”

“Well, save me a dance later, _mi amor_,” CJ said with a smile.

Josh looked at her, scanning her face for sincerity. “Looking forward to it,” he said as he turned to leave. As he reached the stairs, he noticed that she had made her way across towards Goodwin and Montgomery. He shut his eyes, took a breath and headed up to the second floor, two steps at a time.

As he reached the second floor landing, he was directed down to the West Sitting Hall by an usher. He grumbled his thanks and moved his way. A noise behind him caused him to turn his head, and he saw the flaming red hair of Mallory O’Brien, dressed in a gown of some dark brown hue that matched his tie and cummerbund. He raised his hand in a small wave, which she returned. It may have been the distance and the lighting, but the smile she gave him was mischievous, one he hadn’t seen in years, not since the second year of their first term. It made him reflexively nervous, but he pushed down the feeling. He didn’t have time for such foolishness.

“There he is!” Sam stood up from his armchair and approached his friend, catching him in a big hug.

“Sorry I’m late,” Josh said, somewhat sheepishly as he returned the embrace. “I’m having a bit of a day.”

“Well, time to put all that aside,” Sam said with a grin. “Have a drink, relax. We’ve still got an hour before pictures.”

Josh walked in, forcing a smile onto his own face. He moved over to Charlie, who looked far more relaxed than he expected. The two shared their own hug in greeting. “Wow, you’re not nervous? No cold feet?”

“About marrying Zoey? Not a bit,” Charlie said. “Doing it in front of half of Washington I could do without, though.”

“Don’t worry, big brother,” said Deanna, “I won’t let you make a fool of yourself. Much.”

Josh turned to look at Charlie’s sister, who had a couple inches on him even without the heels. She looked elegant in some sort of cross between a tuxedo and a gown that Josh had never seen before. He went on tiptoes to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I haven’t seen you since that Presidential barbecue Charlie dragged you to a couple years ago. How’s Charlottesville? It’s your senior year, right?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “I kinda wish I’d red-shirted freshman year - we missed the Tournament last year, and we’ve got a bunch of new faces this year. But it’s time for me to move on to grad school.”

“I still think you got a shot at the WNBA,” said Anthony Marcus, leaning back in his chair.

“Just because I can beat your sorry ass doesn’t mean I want to do it for a living,” she said, in an affectionately teasing tone.

“What’s your degree?” Josh asked.

“Education,” Deanna said, causing him to flinch. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hit you on Santos’s plans. Although I don’t think I’d mind if you prioritized the better pay for teachers.”

“And I,” Anthony said, “am four semesters away from my Criminal Justice degree after transferring to College Park this year.”

“I thought you were going into Sports Management,” Josh said, leaning down to shake his hand.

“Nah,” the young man said. “Orlando’s gonna have to get himself someone else to represent him. I want to be a different kind of agent. I decided I’m gonna try for the Secret Service.”

Charlie clapped Anthony on the shoulder. “Simon would be proud.”

The room grew somber for a moment, as the memory of the fallen agent took up residence in their thoughts.

Deanna broke the quiet, “Let me get you a drink, Mr. Lyman.”

“Josh,” he corrected her absently. “And a beer would be great, thanks.” Just one, to calm the nerves. He’d had nothing but coffee all morning, and was feeling more than a little jittery. He thought about trying some of the hors d'oeuvres left for them, to see if that might settle his stomach, but one glance at the plate of canapés left him slightly nauseous.

“You doing okay?” Sam asked, seeing his sickly expression.

“Fine,” Josh shrugged as he drained the last of his beer before reaching for a second from the silver ice bucket.

Sam and Charlie exchanged a look.

“Josh?” Sam asked, concern thick in his voice.

“Don’t,” his friend warned. “If I hear one word about my ‘sensitive system’, I swear to God I will-”

“You’ll what?” came a voice behind him, one so intimately familiar that it reached into Josh’s soul. There was a reflexive guilt that nearly made him release his grip on the beer. “Anyway, Zoey just finished with her pictures, so if you all want to head to the Rose Garden, you don’t have to worry about seeing the bride in her gown before the ceremony.”

“Donna?” he said in a whisper. He didn’t know why he was surprised. He knew she was here. Technically, he’d invited her. And being Donna, of course she would make herself available. He turned his head to look.

She was standing in the doorway, looking radiant in a gown of deep chocolate with white lace at the bodice. She stood there, tall, willowy and impossibly beautiful, with a poise that he wasn’t sure when she’d fully grown into. She had a somewhat wry smile beneath a pale lip gloss. Then it struck him. Her makeup was exquisitely applied, and her golden hair was up with some sort of white flowers in it. Beneath it all it was still his Donnatella, so it took Josh a moment to realize the implications.

Donna was one of Zoey’s bridesmaids.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bow tie is fixed, and Sam delivers some truths to Josh.

“Thanks Donna,” Charlie said. “Please let Zoey know I stand breathless in anticipation of our next rendezvous..”

“Impending marriage has given you the touch of the poet, Charlie,” she replied with a laugh.

Deanna gave Anthony a stern look, and he begrudgingly rose from the chair where he’d been lounging, and the two of them followed Charlie out. Sam gave Josh’s shoulder a squeeze and gave Donna a quick kiss on her cheek before joining the procession.

Donna turned to Josh. “Your tie’s a little crooked.”

“It’s fine,” he said, his voice a little cold.

Before he could react, she’d moved in and pulled it open.

“Hey!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to do that?”

She was already in the process of retying it. “A lot longer than it will take me to do it right, I imagine,” she said. “Please hold still - it needs to be perfect for the wedding photos.”

Though she was only touching the tie, she could feel his discomfort radiate off him, He held himself stiffly, and she realized when she didn’t feel his warm breath on her hands as she negotiated the tie into shape that he hadn’t exhaled since she ‘d begun.

“Relax, Josh,” she said, forcing the insecurity from her voice. “It’s not like this is a new experience for you.”

His eyes were wary, as if he expected her to strangle him. “This isn’t…,” he began to speak, “We… you don’t do this anymore.”

“Special occasion,” she said as she pulled the two loops taut. “There. We need you looking your best. You don’t want to disappoint Zoey.”

That got him. He looked away and sighed. “Thank you,” he said in a small voice.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Isn’t that what friends are for?”

Josh’s face darkened and he looked away. Donna put one hand on his chin and gently turned his head to face her. “I’m still your friend, Josh. I know it hasn’t felt like that, but I never stopped.”

He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. “If you say so.”

“I do,” she said.

“Well,” he said, avoiding her gaze, “unless I miss my guess, I feel I should warn you that the bride-to-be seems to think…”

“Seems to think what?” Donna asked, hoping Josh would put it into words and let them get things out in the open.

Instead, he scrubbed his hand across his face. “It… doesn’t matter. I gotta get down there. Thanks for fixing my tie.”

She watched him walk off. She felt conflicted at how things had gone. She’d planted the seeds of reconciliation, but she saw that he’d also sussed out Zoey’s scheme and he didn’t seem particularly enthused about it. Of course, this was Josh, and despite the Congressman’s orders to the contrary, she was sure his mind was focused on the election, on recovering from their delay in Illinois, and what the campaign’s next move should be.

She headed back to join Zoey and the others, wondering if she should try to let one of the conspirators - what a strange way to think of her friends - know that both she and Josh were aware of their machinations. She didn’t know if they had any further plans for them, and she thought it might be best if she could head that off.

\- - - - -

The photographer had finished with the group shots and was taking photos of Charlie alone and with his sister. Anthony stood off to the side, hurtling jokes and insults at them, trying to get them to laugh or otherwise lose their composure.

Josh stood next to Sam, lost in thought.

“Donna fixed your tie,” Sam stated.

“What?“ Josh responded vaguely. “Oh, yeah.”

“That was nice of her. I was never able to convince Bonnie or Cathy to fix mine.”

Josh grunted.

“Granted, they’d seen me tying my own, so I couldn’t bluff them into… are you even listening?”

“Hmm?” Josh said. “Sorry, got a lot on my mind.”

“You aren’t supposed to be worrying about the campaign,” Sam said. “Donna told me the directive from Santos.”

“Easy for him to say,” Josh muttered. “But I wasn’t thinking about the Presidential campaign just now.”

“Oh?”

“No,” Josh said.

Sam waited a few seconds, but the only sounds were the click of the camera and Anthony’s continued verbal assault on Charlie, who was impervious. “Hey, Josh, look,” he began.

“Did you know, Sam?” Josh said quietly. “Are you in on it?”

“Know what?”

“That Zoey - I’m guessing it was Zoey, anyway - is using her wedding to try to make me and Donna... be friends again,” Josh explained. “Are you part of it?”

Sam found himself a little impressed that Josh had caught on to anything given his fanatical devotion to his job. He was more relieved that his friend didn’t seem to grasp the full extent of their plans. “Yes,” he admitted. He chose his next words carefully. “Zoey asked me to help. She loves you both and can’t stand to see you fighting.”

“Does… does Donna know?”

“She wasn’t in any of the conversations that I was part of,” Sam said. “But she is quite a bit smarter than you, so she’s probably pieced it together too.”

Josh hung his head and let out a sigh. “Okay. No damage seems to have been done. Just tell the Hole-in-the-Heart Gang to knock it off. Donna and I are fine.”

“You’re not,” Sam said, plainly. “You won’t let her back in.”

“I don’t exactly have time to worry if every staff member is getting as much access as they’d like, Sam,” he snarled. “I’m trying, at least for the moment, to run a national campaign.”

“This isn’t just any staff member, Josh and you know it.” Sam said in a fierce whisper. “This is Donna.”

“I know!” Josh snapped back, loud enough that he suddenly felt the eyes of the others in the Rose Garden turn to him. He lowered his voice. “I know it’s Donna. But I can’t, Sam. Not right now. Maybe after I get fired today, if she still wants anything to do with me, maybe after I’ve slept for a week and I’ve taken stock of the shambles of my career, maybe then. When I have nothing to offer her, we’ll see then.”

“That is a load of crap, Josh,” Sam fired back. “It’s profoundly unfair to her and you know it.”

The two stared each other down, Sam’s angry expression against Josh’s bitter one, and it was Josh who flinched.

“I know,” he said, admitting defeat. “I don’t even know why I said it.”

“It still hurts?”

Josh lowered his head. “Every day.”

“Talk to her, Josh,” Sam said. “She left because she needed to explore new opportunities, and maybe it was a mistake to do that for Bingo Bob, but it’s not like you’ve been playing error free ball all these years or that she hasn’t been there to clean up after you. And it doesn’t mean she ever stopped caring about you.”

A brief, bitter laugh erupted from Josh. “She just said the same thing.”

“And you never stopped caring about her,” he said, as if challenging his friend to deny it.

“No.”

“Then talk with her,” Sam reiterated. “You’ve got some hours off from campaigning. We’ve got Charlie covered. I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you two are finally reconciling, and I can think of almost no better wedding gift you could give Zoey.”

Josh made a noncommittal grunt and looked up where the photographer was wrapping up.

“Josh,” Sam said again, imploring.

“No,” he replied. “I can’t. Not right now. We’ll just end up fighting again, and I’m not going to put Charlie and Zoey through that. We can be cordial to each other for now. That’ll be enough to get through the day. And after that… it’s not going to be an issue.”

Sam was taken aback by the sudden turn in his friend’s demeanor. “Why? What happens after that?”

“I told you. I’m getting fired today,” Josh reminded him, his voice flat.

“That’s ridiculous,” Sam said.

“It’s not.” There was a look of resignation on Josh’s face that Sam didn’t recognize. “You know the game. Seven points down, the needle hasn’t moved in weeks. I blew Illinois. We need something to invigorate the campaign to get the money coming in again. Someone’s gonna have to take the fall for it, and we both know that’s me.”

“They’ve got no one half as good as you to run this thing,” Sam suggested. “You’ve already pulled off a miracle getting him this far. The only person who could possibly do better would be...”

“Leo,” Josh finished for him.

“He would never do it, Josh,” Sam insisted. “Never.”

Josh just shrugged. “He’ll do it if that’s what it takes to win. God knows I still don’t know where I screwed up Illinois.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I… I don’t know what my next move is. I can’t make these numbers work. And if I’m going down for this, I can’t take... the campaign with me.”

Sam caught something in his hesitation. “Your head’s been on the block more than once, and you’ve always come through. Remember Mary Marsh? Or Chris Carrick? I remember calling after Carrick flipped parties, and Donna was sick with worry that you were going to get fired. She didn’t know where you two would end up if you did.”

“She would’ve stayed at the White House,” Josh shrugged. “It’s not like she was going to get fired.”

“She was going to quit,” Sam corrected him. “If you were fired, she would’ve quit in solidarity.”

“That would’ve been stupid.”

“Maybe. But you knew she was planning it anyway,” Sam said.

Josh was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. I saw she’d started to pack a box at her desk.”

“I also seem to recall Toby telling me that he’d suggested that Leo fire Donna over the Jack Reese quote, and you told him you’d resign first.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sam said dismissively. “Just tell me if I’m wrong. Donna told me you two were starting to come around. That you weren’t making her calls to you feel like a burden. That you’d started to joke again. You were starting to let her back in until this thing with Illinois happened.”

Josh shrugged noncommittally.

“Now I’m just spitballing here, but on a day where you could use a friend in your corner, you started pushing her away again. And now you tell me you expect to get fired.” Sam stroked his chin theatrically. “It occurs to me that if you two had repaired your friendship you might be concerned that she would quit if you were fired.”

The grunt Sam got as response made him continue. “Or perhaps you’re afraid she could say she’s your friend but then continue to work for someone who would let you go for this.”

“Either she tanks her career out of loyalty to me, or I find out that I’m just not that important to her anymore.” Josh absently rubbed the back of his neck. “Feels a lot like a lose-lose to me.”

“You really are an idiot sometimes,” Sam said. “You do know that, right?”

“I do, in fact, know that,” Josh said, “but it’s always gratifying to have people in my life willing to step up and say it. Remind me, how am I an idiot this time?”

“Because you work better with Donna than without, and if you’re going to figure out how to dig your way out of your polling troubles, talking with someone who worked the Midwest Corridor would probably be a great start.” Sam smiled, “You’re not going to get fired today. You wouldn’t pick a guy to run who’s that foolish or that callous. So you’ve got the time to turn this around, and if you use the talent at your disposal, you’re gonna get the job done. I know you can do it, Josh. You’re the best, Josh, but she makes you better.”

\- - - - -

Donna, for her part, was sipping champagne next to Mallory, who was showing her pictures of her son. She made the appropriate “ooh” and “ah” sounds, which was easy since little Connor was simply adorable, but in the back of her mind she was trying to decide if Leo’s daughter was part of the plan.

“Are you still mad at Josh?” she asked.

“For making my dad a candidate?” Mallory asked. “No. I was for a few days - I thought it was too soon. I’m not enthused about the travel, but it’s probably less stressful than him staying in the White House. And really, the trail seems to have taken years off his life. That, or the tiny little woman who’s running his life now.”  
“Annabeth is a force of nature,” Donna said with a smile.

Mallory looked closely at Donna, calculating. “Are _you_ still mad at Josh? I heard about you quitting last year, and how he wouldn’t hire you for the campaign. My father wanted to… well, to say he wasn’t happy with his former deputy would be putting it mildly.”

“It’s okay, Mallory.”

“I know he can be a jerk,” Mallory continued. “You know even better than I do how he can be, especially when he thinks he’s been wronged. But I know he never stopped caring for you.”

“He told me he missed me every day,” Donna said, growing sad at the memory. “I was too embarrassed to hear it at the time, but… yeah. It really is okay. It’s been getting better. We’re talking again, at least.”

“Well then.” Mallory’s eyes slipped over to Zoey, and the corner of her mouth formed a small smile. “Maybe there’s hope for the boy yet.”

“Aha!” Donna said, catching Mallory off guard. “You’re in on it too!”

Mallory blinked. “In on what?”

“Zoey’s plans for me and Josh.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mallory said.

“I’m sure you don’t,” Donna said. “But if you did, I’d ask you to tell Zoey that as much as I appreciate her intentions, I think I can take it from here.”

“So you’re taking over, huh?” Mallory asked with a knowing grin.

Donna nodded.

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a couple nods to some other great fics in here - Quaggy's "The Bow Tie" influenced the opening scene, the idea that Toby wanted to have Donna fired and Josh might threaten to quit was explored in Arpad Hrunta's "Unofficial Reprimand", and as always thanks to kcat1971 for beta-ing and chatting about ideas.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slight canonical delay to the wedding, Annie Westin's a bit confused by all the tension, and Josh and Donna talk a bit, but you shouldn't get your hopes up.
> 
> not this chapter, anyway.

There was a knock on the door, and Will Bailey, dressed in a tuxedo, poked his head in. “I’m afraid we’re experiencing a bit of a delay,” he said. “The President is unavoidably detained.”

“Does CJ need me?” Charlie asked reflexively.

“While I’m sure the thought is appreciated, unless you’ve got a miracle peace plan for Central Asia in your pocket, you’d probably be better served mingling with the guests.”

“Kazakhstan?” Josh asked.

“You certainly didn’t hear it from me,” Will said, but with a slight nod of agreement. “I’m going to go inform the ladies about the delays.”

After he’d left, Josh walked over to Charlie. “Bailey has a point - some of us should probably get out there and talk to the masses.”

“Don’t look at me,” Anthony said. “I may have to take a bullet for these people someday but that doesn’t mean I want to engage in small talk with them.”

“I… I don’t know what I’d say to them, but if you need me to go out there…” Deanna looked profoundly uncomfortable.

“Nervous? You play in front of over thirty-five hundred every game,” Charlie pointed out.

“It’s not the same and you know it, Charlie,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said. “Josh and I will go.”

Josh gave his friend a slightly alarmed look before recovering. “Yeah. There may be some donors down there that I haven’t fleeced yet.”

“Just don’t start swiping envelopes from the gifts table, that’s all I ask,” Charlie said.

Josh looked at him with a shocked expression until he saw the twinkle in the groom-to-be’s eye. “I dunno,” he said. “I’ll have to call our finance director and make sure you’ve maxed out your donation before I make any promises.”

“So this would be a bad time to tell you I donated to Vinick, huh?”

A series of different emotions flashed across Josh’s face - shock, anger, disbelief, worry, hurt. But then Charlie’s smirk registered on him, and he managed a forced smile. “Almost got me there. Good one.”

As they headed out to placate the restless guests, however, Sam saw lingering doubt in his friend’s countenance. Charlie’s joke had struck to the core of his insecurity, how the past several months - years, even - had seen the diminishment and even dissolution of the few relationships Josh had been trying to maintain over the years. 

Sam thought of what he’d told Josh, that there was no way he’d be fired by the man he’d personally selected and gotten this far, and certainly no chance that Leo would replace him as campaign manager. He could only hope that he was right.

\- - - - -

Annie Westin thought it would be different. Her aunt was having a White House wedding, and it should be magical. And it was, she supposed, to an extent. There was actual royalty mingling downstairs. The Queen of England had come to watch Aunt Zoey marry Charlie. But it turns out real life royalty isn’t all that interesting - just stilted formality and protocol - so she’d retreated to the East Sitting Room with her mom and aunts and Grandma and the bridesmaids.

She could have been a bridesmaid, but it turned out that Ms. Cregg was too busy to be on Charlie’s side to balance her out, and she was too old to be a flower girl. So she sat in the Sitting Room in a gown she’d insisted to her mother that was perfect for her and instead was making her feel self conscious about her cleavage and how low the back was, and she hoped that the reception would just get here.

And that weaselly little man - the one that Aunt Ellie despised so much - had come in and told them that Grandpa Jed had a political crisis to deal with, and they had no idea when they could even start the ceremony.

“Why is Will Bailey wearing a tux?” Aunt Ellie asked.

Aunt Zoey shrugged. “I promise you he wasn’t on the guest list. Maybe he knew he’d have to talk to guests and wanted to blend in?”

“He’s the plus one for one of the guests,” Donna said She was a tall blond woman that Annie could vaguely remember seeing around Mr. Lyman, but was somehow close enough to Zoey to snag a bridesmaid spot. She was the one who’d gone to tell Charlie to come down for their pictures, so apparently she had inside information.

Ellie frowned. “I know you worked for him, Donna, but I can’t stand him. I almost threw up when I did that press conference.”

Annie watched her mother laugh without a hint of mirth. “You really know how to pick bosses, don’t you? First the walking ego, Josh Lyman, then underhanded Will Bailey. Now you’re back to Josh. You’re better than that.”

But Donna stood up straight. “I’ve made some mistakes, yes. But neither one is the villain you’re making them out to be.” She turned to Ellie and said, “Will didn’t out you, even accidentally. He just took the fall for it. It was Vice President Russell’s wife, who is friends with Congresswoman Layton. Will counselled the Vice President to apologize, but he wouldn’t. Will felt really bad about it, Ellie. It was still bothering him over a year later.”

Aunt Ellie looked slightly mollified, but her voice was still hard when she responded. “He still worked for Russell though, and so did you.”

“I didn’t find out until I’d been working for Will for a few weeks,” Donna said with a sigh. “And I didn’t have a lot of choices after I left…” There was a significant pause there, and Annie could see almost everyone else was able to fill in the blank. “ I was just grateful that Will gave me the opportunity.”

“I still can’t believe you stayed with that arrogant jerk that long.” Annie was a little confused by her mother’s words. Her parents had gotten in a big shouting match back in January over Josh Lyman - earlier that day, dad had used a photo op to score some cheap political points, still angry at how Mr. Lyman had tried to convince him not to run for the House of Representatives. In response, her mom had written a check to the Santos campaign. Annie knew that Zoey really liked Mr. Lyman, and she thought that her father had as well, at least until the whole “don’t run” fiasco. 

Donna was quiet for a moment. “I don’t work for… I was hired by Louise Thornton.” Annie watched the woman stare at her champagne glass. “And you’re wrong about Josh. He’s a good man, and he’s had to do unpleasant things to save the President and Leo.”

At her words, Grandma Abbey, who was sitting in a chair next to where Zoey was standing, spoke, “Josh didn’t try to stop Doug, not single-handedly. He even took it to Leo. The D Triple C made that call, and your father - and Leo - both agreed that it didn’t seem like a good use of resources to try to back Doug against their wishes. Josh took it upon himself to tell Doug so your Father wouldn’t have to.”

Annie thought her Mom still looked pissed, but there was a little furrow in her brow that Annie recognized as her considering unpleasant but irrefutable facts. Annie knew that generally made her mother a little snippy, but Grandma Abbey stepped in to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“I expect that Sam and Joshua will be going down to entertain our guests,” she told Zoey, “so I think I will take Mallory and Donna with me to soothe any hurt feelings or diplomatic faux pas they’ve left in their wake.”

Aunt Zoey laughed and nodded, and both Aunt Ellie and Zoey’s friend Stacy seemed as relieved as Annie to not have to go face the collection of dignitaries downstairs.

\- - - - -

Josh had escaped his friend and broken away from the crowd, and found himself slumped down on the stairs looking at the electoral map he’d smuggled in. If Sam was right, if there was a reprieve today, then he needed to have a strategy to recover and have it ready to go immediately. And if Sam was wrong, Josh needed to leave the Congressman and the campaign with the best advice he could provide.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, trying to stare some meaning and order into that piece of paper. He hadn’t registered the sound of her shoes coming down the stairs until he heard Donna ask if he’d like a fried wonton.

“Hey,” he muttered by way of acknowledgement, his eyes glued to the map.

“Really, they’re pretty good.” Donna said.

“Yeah?” he was vaguely aware of responding to her.

“They're out of champagne, though,” she said. “The First Lady just gave me 20 bucks and told me to pick up a bottle of Cold Duck.”

He heard the words - at least on some level - but they didn’t seem to make any sense and he filed them away to worry about later.

“Josh,” she said, her voice imploring.

“I”m sorry,” he muttered, finally turning to look at her. “Have you seen Leo?”

“I’m bored,” she continued, in a tone that tugged at his memories. There was a familiarity to it, but it lacked a timidity that she often exhibited when they came up on that uncrossable line. “I’m an attractive woman waiting to be entertained.”

Josh’s attention didn’t waver despite her efforts. He started to rise. “He was just with the President. I’m sure he’s still…”

Donna looked up to him, her eyes sad. “I just saw him headed to the East Room.”

As Josh started to walk up, he felt a hand on his arm. He looked down at her.

“Josh,” she said. 

“I’m just going to go…”

“Stay,” she said.

“What?” he asked, taken aback.

“Stay here,” she reiterated. “You aren’t supposed to be working anyway, and neither is Leo.”

“I’ve gotta go…” he insisted.

“No, you don’t. All you need to do today is be there for Charlie and I need to be there for Zoey. We can worry about Illinois and the campaign later,” she said. “Just stay with me for a few minutes.”

Josh looked upstairs, and then back at Donna. He felt pulled in both directions. Every instinct he’d developed during his life as a political operative told him to go to find Leo, to fight for his job, but his heart told him to listen to her, to take this chance for a moment’s peace. He looked down at her hand, still lightly touching his arm. 

“Please.” 

With a final glance in the direction of the East Room, he bowed his head, turned and sat back down. “‘Kay.”

“Thank you,” Donna said in a quiet voice.

Josh left out a soft chuckle. “I guess Zoey’s plan is working after all.”

“Zoey’s plan?” He noticed a hint of blush on Donna’s cheeks, and her question felt far too innocent for her, especially based on what Sam had said.

“Donna,” he chided her. “You know. Whatever scheme she got into her head to try to make us friends again. Which according to you, we still were, so it was a waste of a lot of time and energy.”

“According to me?” she echoed, hurt. “So you don’t think of me as a friend anymore.”

“No! I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t know what I mean,” he admitted. “You know we’ve been all kinds of messed up for over a year now.”

“Yeah,” she acknowledged.

“And I wasn’t - that is, I meant what I said, back in July. I’ve missed you. But it’s been so long since we’ve been the us we were, and I don’t know what -if any- us there is now, and that’s not something that’s gonna get fixed in one day, and definitely not at a White House wedding,” He looked at her face, at the sadness in her eyes and the slight frown on her lips. “I’m not saying never, or that I don’t care about you, or that I don’t want to be… friends again. After things are over, maybe… maybe I can buy you that salad, or whatever you want. But right now…”

“Right now the job comes first,” she finished for him.

“For as long as it lasts, yeah.”

She stared at him, her unhappiness at the prospect matching his, and then she nodded once. “Okay,” she said, extending her hand. “Colleagues, then?”

“Colleagues,” he agreed, shaking her hand, trying to hide the regret in his voice. “So, um, colleague,” he said, handing her the map he’d been studying, “what do you think?”

“About what?” She looked a little taken aback by his sudden shift.

“You worked the Midwest Corridor,” he pointed out. “How do we get those last five points in Illinois? Without sacrificing our leads in Minnesota, Michigan or Wisconsin, or putting Iowa or Missouri out of reach.”

She shook her head, a bit in disbelief. “You’re… asking me?”

“I’m asking you,” he said. “I’ll clear it with Lou later, but you’ve got the experience there, and I’ve never gone wrong listening to your advice.”

She blushed a little. “I think…,” she started, and then seemed to reconsider. “I think,” she started again, “that I need to go over my notes, which is something we can do after the reception. In the meantime, we should head back upstairs and check on Charlie and Zoey. The wedding was supposed to start a half hour ago, and we should go and do the duties we’ve been tasked with.”

Josh visibly shoved away his disappointment. “Yeah,” he said. “Okay, yeah, you’re right.”

He stood up and held out his hand to help her. They made their way up to the second floor, and as they parted, Josh called out, barely loud enough to carry to her ears, “I guess I’ll see you at the end of the aisle.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Abbey make their case to Josh and Donna, and a toast to the bride and groom.

The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, once the President had been able to negotiate an hour’s reprieve from the Chinese. Josh was proud of the happy couple; for all the stress and pressure, they’d come through with poise, and the love they shared was evident for all to see. He himself had managed to not trip over himself as he’d met Donna halfway up the aisle and escorted her, arm in arm, until they’d taken their respective positions at the end.

After Charlie and Zoey had been pronounced husband and wife with a kiss that skirted the edge of propriety but served only to endear the pair to the guests, they led the procession out of the East Room, followed by Ellie and Deanna, Anthony and Stacy, Sam and Mallory, and finally Josh and Donna. A receiving line followed, before another set of pictures of the wedding party.

There was a half hour break before he was needed at the reception, and Josh had slipped away to one of the rooms on the second floor. He was deep in concentration when Leo found him.

“It was a beautiful ceremony, I thought,” Leo said.

Josh looked up from the scrap of paper on which he’d been scribbling notes. “What?”

“I thought it was a beautiful ceremony,” his mentor and Vice-Presidential candidate repeated.

“Oh,” Josh said. “Yeah.”

“I told the Congressman that there was no way you could spend the whole day away from work,” Leo said. “Couldn’t get him to put money on it, though.”

“I’m nothing if not predictable,” Josh said. “But this isn’t work.”

“Really?” Leo’s question was thick with skepticism.

“Deanna was having some butterflies about her toast. And when I say butterflies, I mean, she’s really, _really_ sorry about the ficus in the Sitting Hall.” He shrugged. “I told her I’d do it.”

Leo glanced over his protege’s shoulder at what had been written so far. “Are you sure you want to make a joke about Rosslyn?”

Josh shrugged. “I’ve had some fun with Zoey over the years about it. You even asked me how that bullet didn’t kill me.”

“Josh.” Leo was giving him the “I can’t believe I hired this idiot” look, one he hadn’t seen in years.

“What? I’m the one who got shot, I think if anyone’s gonna get to make that joke…”

“Josh,” Leo repeated. “How would you feel if there was a joke about Gaza?”

The comment hung in the air before Josh took his pen and vigorously crossed out the line, obliterating it from the page. He hung his head. “Yeah, okay.”

“So Donna’s doing well,” Leo said off-handedly.

“Was there any doubt?” Josh remarked, fiddling with the pen as he considered the next line to his speech.

“I seem to recall you had some cockamamie reservations that kept you from hiring her two months ago.”

“That was never about her talent,” Josh said. “That was a matter of…”

“Trust,” Leo said simply. Before Josh could object, he continued. “Yes, the statements she made for Russell would have been a headache for the campaign, but we would have weathered it fine. They would’ve been forgotten in a news cycle if we played our cards right. You turned her away because you forgot you could trust her.”

“It really doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” Josh said. “She’s probably going to be on this campaign long after I’m gone.”

Leo stared at his former Deputy, taking in a sense of resignation that quite frankly shocked him. He had seen Josh rebound from every sling and arrow tossed his way, including some that Leo and the President had hurled. Resiliency was practically Josh’s defining trait. “I never thought I’d see the day when the son of Noah Lyman sits and wallows in self-pity, at least not over a political problem.”

Josh had the decency to look a little guilty at being scolded.

“You’re not getting fired, kid,” Leo said, putting a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “So get up off the mat, and get your head in the game.”

Josh stared at him. “Is this some sort of ‘as long as you got a job, I got a job’ thing? Keep me as a figurehead because Matt Santos feels sorry for me and feels he owes me something? You know I don’t want that, Leo. If I have to go, I have to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere. I meant what I said. Barry Goodwin and Senator Montgomery pushed, but the Congressman agreed with me. You’ve done as good a job as anyone could hope for, you’re the one who got him this far, and he understands it’s time that he stepped up and got us the rest of the way.” Leo smiled. “Now you can stop fretting and enjoy the day. We’ll worry about the election tomorrow.”

“Tonight, actually,” Josh noted absently. “I asked Donna to go over midwest strategy with me after the reception.”

“You still haven’t managed to get it together, have you?” Leo asked.

“Get it together?”

“Nine years you know this woman, and you’re still using work as an excuse to spend time with her.” Leo gave him a very direct look. “You’re at a wedding. A celebration of love. There will be good food, romantic music, dancing. And you’re planning on working tonight.”

“It isn’t like that,” Josh protested. “She spent time in the Midwest Corridor…”

“Josh…”

“It’s Donna,” Josh insisted. “You know she’ll have heard some bizarre factoid that will be the key to closing the gap...”

“Yes, Josh, it is Donna. And she may have the key to a landslide victory in Illinois in her head. And that still won’t be the real reason you want to meet with her tonight.” Leo gave him a direct look. Then he shrugged and headed towards the door. “You may want to think about why that is.”

Josh blinked a couple times as the man left the room. He looked at what he’d written so far, and then crumpled the page in a ball and tossed it in a small waste paper basket. He grabbed a new sheet and began to write.

\- - - - -

When Ellie finished her toast to her sister, she sat down. Her girlfriend Victoria had held her hand throughout, offering support to the middle Bartlet child as she’d given a heartfelt tribute to Zoey, with several charming anecdotes of their childhood, and a sincere welcome to her new husband into the family. Tori gave her a gentle hug and then slipped away to go back to sit with the band.

The microphone was passed over to Josh, and he stood up from his seat.

“Thank you, Eleanor,” he began. “You really did a great job, and said some very nice things about your sister. I hope this means you’re going to hold off your revenge on Zoey for making you do that until after the honeymoon?”

There were a few chuckles from those in the room who knew Ellie and were aware of how much she hated the spotlight.

“So I know all of you were expecting Deanna to come up here and regale you with embarrassing stories about her brother. I told her I would arm wrestle her for the privilege, and I’m proud to say that… Dr. Griffith? I may need you to look at my arm later. I think she tore, like, twelve ligaments.”

Josh offered a smile to Deanna, who returned it with a somewhat shy but grateful expression on her face. “Truth is, she was a little nervous to get up here and face you all. I tried to tell her that if you take away the tuxes and the fancy gowns, we’re pretty much a bunch of used car salesmen, only with law degrees and bigger egos.”

He cleared his throat and looked down at the jumbled mess he’d written down. “I wish I could take credit for hiring Charlie, but it was our very own Debbie Fiderer over at the party table who deserves that honor,” he began. Debbie beamed from her spot, where she was sitting with Nancy, Ginger and Carol and their dates. “And bless her for seeing what a special person he was, how he persevered against overwhelming odds by virtue of an incredible brain and an even bigger heart. I’m eternally grateful she passed his name along to me.”

Josh turned towards the newlyweds, gesturing with his champagne glass. “I will take credit for introducing Charlie and Zoey over a pot of chili. The President had sent Charlie in to make sure his youngest daughter wasn’t messing with his recipe. I would love to say that I saw the spark immediately, that I could see from that precise moment that I would be standing before you all one day, drink in my hand, toasting to their happiness. But I would be lying if I said that.”

Charlie and Zoey eyed each other, unsure of where Josh was going.

“It wasn’t until I left the kitchen a couple minutes later that I knew.” He looked further down the row of bridesmaids, seeking out Donna, who was watching with a look of skeptical amusement. “Mock if you want, Donnatella, but I remember telling you that I can pick ‘em, and I stand by my record, whether it’s hiring the President’s body man, running a three term Congressman for President, or letting an invaluable assistant hire herself.”

That last comment made Donna look away, and Josh thought that perhaps there was the hint of a blush on her cheeks at the memory.

“But the path from that time in the kitchen in the Residence to this place on this day wasn't without its challenges. There were bigots writing hate mail - and worse. Charlie had the second hardest job in the White House, and his boss didn’t always make it easy for him to spend time with his little girl.” President Bartlet offered a shrug and a smirk, and was rewarded by a playful jab in the ribs from the First Lady’s elbow. “The constant pressure cooker of being young and in love under the view of some paparazzi’s telephoto lens.”

He hoped that was light enough. It felt important to let the guests know, to remind them that just Zoey and Charlie being together had so infuriated some people that they would fire bullets into a crowd to try to stop them.

“But through it all, I never doubted that these two loved each other. Whether it was him talking off his coat to show his love for her one snowy January evening - not that she was there to witness that, so that may have been the dumbest thing you’ve ever done now that I stop to think about it - to a stolen kiss in the Arboretum on a warm spring night.”

His eyes found Donna’s again. She looked pensive.

“Despite a litany of tragedy and tribulations, of wrong turns and right-wing hate, they made it. They have overcome all obstacles life and this town could throw at them, and look at them now, smiling, adorably in love, and ready to kick my ass for that story about Charlie in the snow without a coat.”

He lifted his champagne flute. “So let’s raise a glass. To their journey, and to finally getting here in the end. To love persevering. To Zoey and Charlie!”

There was a resounding echo from the crowd as people drank to their health.

Josh brought the microphone up once more. “One more thing - don’t forget to vote for Matt Santos in November!”

The newlyweds laughed, some of the Republican guests scowled, and Kate Harper went stony-faced at the thought of any diplomatic fallout from the statement. Josh, though, was focused on Donna’s reaction.

Donna, for her part, felt a little confused. Dinner was over, and the many of the wedding party were taking the opportunity to mingle. She saw the President approach Josh and shake his hand. The two talked for a few moments, quiet enough that Josh had to bend down to hear whatever President Bartlet was saying.

“He did well,” said the First Lady, causing Donna to break from her reverie. “I would have thought he’d get Sam to give it a polish, though, since he had him here.”

“Hrm?” Donna made a distracted noise before turning to see who was talking. “Ma’am!” she exclaimed when she realized. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. You were saying?”

“That Joshua did well,” she repeated.

“I’m sorry?” Donna looked blankly at her.

“With the toast,” Dr. Bartlet clarified. “You remember, the bit where he stood and for a while, and then we all drank champagne in honor of my daughter and new son-in-law?”

“Oh,” she said, “that. Yeah.”

“I thought you’d be more pleased. It felt like he was directing half of that at you.”

“At me?” Donna asked, blinking her eyes and trying to focus on the conversation.

“The snowy winter’s night? That was inauguration, wasn’t it? When they came to get you?” Abbey was smiling at her confusion. “Charlie told Zoey, and Zoey found it quite charming. And romantic.”

“Romantic?”

“Are you feeling all right, Donna?” the First Lady asked. “I know Josh is running himself ragged as always, but you always came across as slightly more sensible.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, it’s just…” Donna tilted her head as she considered everything, and then smiled. “You know, I almost let him fool me again? I started listening to his words and not the meaning behind them.”

Abbey Bartlet nodded, knowingly.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, Mrs. Bartlet,” Donna said, waiting for her assent. “Are you part of Zoey’s plan? I didn’t think you liked Josh all that much.”

“I find Joshua infuriating. Of all the ‘children’ we’ve adopted since the campaign, he is the wild child. Erratic, messy, unbearably arrogant at times. But he’s always been straight with me, sometimes to his own detriment. And he’s given up everything for my husband, too much in many ways.” The First Lady looked closely at Donna before speaking again, her expression intense. “I suppose I have just one question for you - do you love him?”

Donna was stunned for a moment, in disbelief that this woman who she idolized would so brazenly ask her that. She reeled again at the implication, that somehow her feelings for Josh and his for her were so transparent that their friends had gathered together to make them confront things.

She found herself nodding, unsure of her voice.

“Then,” Abbey said, leaning in to give Donna what would seem to the other guests to be a friendly hug, “perhaps Joshua hasn’t given up everything after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is actual done! well, the chapter after this is written and just needs final editing, so I won't be making you wait too much longer.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> figuring it out

The cake had been cut and served. Charlie and Zoey had danced elegantly to Schrodinger’s Pussycats’ rendition of Tom Waits’s “I Want You”, and then the President had escorted his daughter as Dr. Bartlet followed with Charlie while the band played their version of “In My Life” by the Beatles.

There was polite applause when they finished, and Tori invited the rest of the wedding party to come dance. CJ and Kate Harper were waiting on the edge of the floor. Seeing their expressions, President Bartlet gave Zoey a kiss on the cheek and shook Charlie’s hand, and started to follow them in the direction of the West Wing.

Right before he left, however, he turned and looked where Josh and Donna had made their way to the floor. He caught the eye of his former Deputy Chief of Staff and quite deliberately winked.

Josh stood there staring, his mouth slightly agape, unbelieving.

_“Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by_   
_We never get to stop and open our eyes”_

“Josh?” Donna whispered, and he shook his head and realized that the music had started and she was waiting for him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He reached out and took her hand, and carefully placed his other hand on her waist, staying above her hip. He was moving somewhat stiffly, and his expression was befuddled.

_“One minute you're waiting for the sky to fall_   
_The next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all”_

“Are you okay?” she whispered, between the teeth of a forced smile.

“What?” Josh pulled himself together. “I was just - did you see the President, on his way out?”

“Yes,” Donna said. “It’s terrible that he needs to miss his daughter’s wedding.”

“No,” he replied, “I mean, yes, it is terrible, but it looked like… I guess I must have imagined it.”

“That’s a confidence inspiring thought,” Donna quipped. “Should I include in my morning press briefing that our campaign manager is suffering from hallucinations brought about by exhaustion?”

“Is that your medical opinion, Ms. Moss?” Josh said.

“Just a layperson’s take on it,” Donna said with a hint of a smile. “Although it could be argued that I would be an expert witness in the case of this particular individual.”

Josh started to reply, but his face darkened and his eyes dropped to look at their feet. They danced for a while, listening to Tori sing Bruce Cockburn's words, the tempo adjusted to be more appropriate for the occasion. 

_“When you're lovers in a dangerous time_   
_Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime”_

“Josh?” Donna had felt his hand on her hip stiffen and he nearly let go of her hand. She didn’t understand - they were just engaged in some light banter, like they used to… and that was it. They’d been skirting around their years together and she just hit him over the head with it. She saw how that meant he was thinking of how that time ended.

_“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight_   
_Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."_

“Josh,” she repeated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay,” he said, “I know, it was just a joke.”

He was willing to let it go, but Donna realized that maybe she shouldn’t.

“What did you see the President do?” she asked. “What did you think you see?”

“Like I said, I imagined it.”

“No,” Donna said, her face serious. “I don’t think you did. What was it? Please, Josh.”

“I said it was…” His angry retort caught in his throat when he saw her, pleading with her eyes. “I don’t see how it matters,” he said in a quieter tone. “I thought I saw President Bartlet wink at me.”

Donna mused at this. “So it went all the way to the top.”

“What went to the top?” he asked, before his brain caught up with hers. “The President was part of Zoey’s plan to get us to be friends again?”

“You’ve almost got it,” she said. “Think about it. Think who’s involved. Where we are. What we’re doing right now.”

Josh frowned, considering the evidence. He thought of the circumstances - being paired as attendants at a high profile wedding. He considered the steps Charlie had taken, and Zoey’s note imploring him to invite Donna. He thought of what Sam had said, and what Leo had told him. “I’m an idiot,” he confessed.

“Often,” she said. “But I’m willing to ignore the available evidence and give you credit for being preoccupied.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was wrong of them, and completely inappropriate. I would have put a stop to it if I’d known they were trying to play yenta. You shouldn’t have to deal with this sort of idiocy.”

“Yes, maybe they shouldn’t have done it,” Donna said. “But think what it means. All our friends are trying to tell us something. Something I think we’ve both known for quite a while and have been running from or hiding from or just plain ignoring.”

Josh hung his head in defeat. “Look, Donna, I… I tried, okay? I spent years locking it away, telling myself I couldn’t feel that way, not about my assistant, but then Gaza happened, and I know how that came across. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if how I felt chased you away and ruined our friendship.”

Donna laughed. She couldn’t help it. She stopped dancing for a moment and just… laughed. She recovered quickly, and began moving with him again. “It’s always about you, isn’t it?”

He stared at her uncomprehending.

“It never occured to you that this little plot was directed at both of us, did it? You don’t think I’ve been hiding my feelings behind sass and banter and innuendo for eight years? Don’t you know that for all I’ve accomplished, for all I’ve learned, this has been one of the hardest years of my life, because you weren’t there with me? Do you know how many times I turned around to tell you something, and you weren't there? Or how many times I pulled up your number on my phone and had to stop myself from calling?”

Josh blinked several times. He glanced around, seeing all the eyes on them now. Sam and Mallory, dancing a couple yards away, trying to capture furtive peeks. Charlie was trying to hide it, but Zoey was openly staring, with a little self satisfied smirk on her lips. He saw Abigail Bartlet in the crowd, and Leo and Annabeth, and both the Congressman and Helen Santos.

He struggled to find his voice. “I’m not sure I understand what’s going on right now. Are you saying...?”

“Yes, Josh, I’m saying.”

“Wow,” he setting, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in.

“Eloquent,” Donna said, smiling. “You really didn’t know?”

Josh considered it, searching his memories. “Not in a long time. Probably not since the night I hired Joe Quincy and we had that little back and forth going about how handsome and powerful I was.”

“You would remember that part,” she laughed, quieter this time. “You still are, you know.”

“Powerful?”

“And handsome.” With that, she let go of his hand, reaching up with both of hers to wrap around his neck. She leaned forward, and gave a slight tug on his shoulders, but he’d already gotten the hint. Their lips met in the middle, a soft, hesitant kiss. They pulled back and looked into each other’s eyes, their respective gazes a mixture of vulnerability and desire. They moved together again, and this time there was only passion in their embrace.

The song had ended, and they could hear the little squeak of excitement from Zoey’s direction. There was a buzz around the hall, and they pulled apart, slightly embarrassed but with big grins on their faces.

Donna looked over at Zoey, who gave her permission to leave with a quick hand wave shooing them off. She took Josh by the hand and they left the East Room, moving quickly through the crowd. There would be gossip tomorrow, almost certainly, but tonight there was just this, them, together after all this time.

A few minutes later, they found themselves seated on a bench in the Rose Garden. Josh’s arm was around Donna’s shoulder, and their free hands were joined between them.

“We still…” Josh began

“Yes, we still need to talk,” Donna said, “about a lot of things. But I think that won’t be as bad as you fear.”

“You don’t?”

“I think,” she said, “we will find that a lot of what happened over the last year was because we couldn’t have this. It was never going to happen when we both worked here…”

“No,” he confirmed, “it couldn’t.”

“And I did need to go - not the way I did! I know how badly I hurt you, leaving that day, but I really did need to leave.”

Josh surprised her, leaning in and resting his head against hers. “Yeah. I saw. You were incredible. It almost hurt more watching you grow away from me than it did when you left, but eventually I got it.”

“All by yourself?” she asked, a wry smile on her lips.

“Sam and Leo may have helped a bit,” he admitted. “I know I haven’t expressed it very well, but I am so glad you’re with us now. But Donna?”

She lifted her head and turned to look at him. “Yes?”

“I think… I think I’m even more glad to have you here, with me, right now.”

“Me too.”

They kissed again.

When they stopped, she could make out his lopsided grin full of dimples. “I think I found something better for us to do tonight.”

Donna giggled. “Okay.”

“But tomorrow - don’t think you’re getting out of trying to come up with a midwest strategy with me. All day. As long as it takes us.”

“Is that so?” she asked, giving him her most sultry look.

“Well,” he coughed, “we probably will need to take a break. A few breaks. Meals. Lunch. Dinner. That sort of thing.”

“I think I’d like that,” Donna said. “But we can worry about that tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Josh said, “we can. Because today we have something far more important to do.”

“Oh?”

“Well, we seem to have missed out on eight years of kisses," Josh said, the seriousness of his tone betrayed by a waggle of his eyebrows. "So I think we better start catching up.”

Instead of a verbal response, Donna leaned in again and proceeded to kiss him senseless.

**Author's Note:**

> it has always felt to me, after Charlie essentially asks the President for permission in "Things Fall Apart", that it was always supposed to be Zoey & Charlie, but scheduling didn't permit it. And given how important Josh was to both of them, well, I think they have a vested interest in his happiness as well.
> 
> thanks as always to kcat1971 for beta-ing and being there to bounce ideas off.


End file.
